Apparatus and methods for at least semi-autonomous meal storage and cooking

ABSTRACT

A method of using a storage and cooking device having multiple thermal containers includes disposing a first food item in a first thermal container, a second food item in a second thermal container, and a third food item in a third thermal container. A volume of fluid is cooled and circulated through at least a portion of the device such that thermal energy from at least one of the first, second, or third food item is transferred to the cooled fluid. The device is transitioned from a first operating mode to a second operating mode in response to a criterion being satisfied. When in the second configuration, the volume of fluid is heated and circulated through at least a portion of the device such that thermal energy is transferred from the volume of fluid to at least one of the first, second, or third food item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/133,267, entitled “Apparatus and Methods for At Least Semi-AutonomousMeal Storage and Cooking,” filed Sep. 17, 2018 (now U.S. Pat. No.10,976,097), which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/599,060 entitled, “Apparatusand Methods for At Least Semi-Autonomous Meal Storage and Cooking,”filed Sep. 15, 2017 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.62/615,136 entitled, “Apparatus and Methods for At Least Semi-AutonomousMeal Storage and Cooking,” filed Jan. 9, 2018, the disclosure of each ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

And U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/615,136 entitled,“Apparatus and Methods for At Least Semi-Autonomous Meal Storage andCooking,” filed Jan. 9, 2018, the disclosure of each of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The embodiments described herein relate to apparatus and methods formeal refrigeration and/or cooking and more specifically, to apparatusand methods for at least semi-autonomous storing, refrigerating, andcooking of meals.

Food storage devices and food cooking devices are known. Some knowndevices, however, do not provide a means for storing and/or cooking fooditems via different storage and/or cooking modalities, temperatureprofiles, time profiles, and/or the like. For example, in someinstances, it may be desirable to store and/or cook food items accordingto a type of the food item (e.g., a protein, a starch, a vegetable, asauce, and/or the like). Some devices that provide a way to store orcook food items in different ways can be expensive and/or unintuitive.Moreover, some such devices are typically configured to either storefood (e.g., a refrigeration device or the like) or cook food (e.g., anoven, stove, microwave, etc.) but are not configured to provide bothstorage and cooking functions. Finally, some known devices can be largeappliances that occupy substantial space in a kitchen.

Thus, a need exists for improved apparatus and methods for at leastsemi-autonomous storing and cooking of meals.

SUMMARY

Apparatus and methods for at least semi-autonomous meal storage andcooking are described herein. In some embodiments, a method of using astorage and cooking device having multiple thermal containers includesdisposing at least one of a first food item in a first thermalcontainer, a second food item in a second thermal container, and a thirdfood item in a third thermal container. A first volume of fluidcirculating through a portion of the first thermal container and aportion of the second thermal container is cooled such that thermalenergy from at least the first food item and the second food item istransferred to the cooled fluid. In response to a first criterion beingsatisfied, the first volume of fluid circulating through the portion ofthe first thermal container and the portion of the second thermalcontainer is heated such that thermal energy from the heated fluid istransferred to the first food item and the second food item. In responseto a second criterion being satisfied, a second volume of fluid isconveyed into a portion of the third thermal container such that thermalenergy from the second volume of fluid is transferred to the third fooditem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a semi-autonomous storage and/orcooking device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a controller included in thesemi-autonomous storage and/or cooking device of FIG. 1 and anelectronic device each of which is in communication with a network.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking deviceaccording to an embodiment.

FIGS. 5-7 illustrate at least a portion of a semi-autonomous storageand/or cooking device according to an embodiment and configured for usewith or in a kitchen appliance.

FIGS. 8-11 are various views of a semi-autonomous storage and/or cookingdevice according to an embodiment.

FIGS. 12 and 13 are a perspective view and a right side view,respectively, of a semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking deviceaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a front perspective view of the semi-autonomous storageand/or cooking device of FIG. 12 shown with a lid in an openconfiguration.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are a perspective view and a front view, respectively,of the semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking device of FIG. 12 shownwith the lid in the open configuration and shown with one or more foodcontainers disposed therein.

FIG. 17 is a front perspective view of a circulation pan included in thesemi-autonomous storage and/or cooking device of FIG. 12.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the circulation pan shown in FIG.17.

FIG. 19 is a rear perspective view of the circulation pan shown in FIG.17.

FIG. 20 is a partial exploded view of a food container configured foruse within the semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking device of FIG. 12.

FIG. 21 is a cross-section view of the semi-autonomous storage and/orcooking device taken along the line 21-21 in FIG. 13.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a fluid circulationsystem included in the semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking device ofFIG. 12.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a method of using a semi-autonomousstorage and/or cooking device according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Apparatus and methods for at least semi-autonomous meal preparation viafluid immersion are described herein. In some embodiments, a method ofusing a storage and cooking device having multiple thermal containersincludes disposing a first food item in a first thermal container, asecond food item in a second thermal container, and a third food item ina third thermal container. A volume of fluid is cooled and circulatedthrough at least a portion of the storage and cooking device such thatthermal energy from at least one of the first food item, the second fooditem, and the third food item is transferred to the cooled fluid. Thestorage and cooking device transitions from a first operating mode to asecond operating mode in response to a criterion being satisfied. Whenin the second configuration, the storage and cooking device heats thevolume of fluid and circulates the volume of fluid through at least aportion of the storage and cooking device such that thermal energy istransferred from the volume of fluid to at least one of the first fooditem, the second food item, and the third food item.

In some embodiments, a method of using a storage and cooking devicehaving multiple thermal containers includes disposing at least one of afirst food item in a first thermal container, a second food item in asecond thermal container, and a third food item in a third thermalcontainer. A first volume of fluid circulating through a portion of thefirst thermal container and a portion of the second thermal container iscooled such that thermal energy from at least the first food item andthe second food item is transferred to the cooled fluid. In response toa first criterion being satisfied, the first volume of fluid circulatingthrough the portion of the first thermal container and the portion ofthe second thermal container is heated such that thermal energy from theheated fluid is transferred to the first food item and the second fooditem. In response to a second criterion being satisfied, a second volumeof fluid is conveyed into a portion of the third thermal container suchthat thermal energy from the second volume of fluid is transferred tothe third food item.

In some embodiments, a method of using a multi-zone storage and cookingdevice having at least a first zone including a first thermal containerand a first heating element and a second zone including a second thermalcontainer and a second heating element includes disposing a first fooditem in the first thermal container and a second food item in the secondthermal container. A volume of fluid circulating through a portion ofthe first thermal container and a portion of the second thermalcontainer is cooled such that thermal energy from the first food itemand thermal energy from the second food item is transferred to thecooled fluid. In response to a first criterion being satisfied, thevolume of fluid circulating through the portion of the first thermalcontainer and the portion of the second thermal container is heated suchthat thermal energy from the heated fluid is transferred to the firstfood item and the second food item. In response to a second criterionbeing satisfied, a flow of electric power is supplied that is operableto heat at least one of the first heating element or the second heatingelement to transfer thermal energy to at least one of the first fooditem or the second food item, respectively.

In some embodiments, a multi-zone storage and cooking device includes ahousing with at least a first zone, a second zone independent of thefirst zone, a third zone independent of the first zone and the secondzone, and a fluid circulation system disposed therein. The first zoneincludes a first thermal container configured to receive a first fooditem and a first heating element configured to transfer thermal energyto the first food item. The second zone includes a second thermalcontainer configured to receive a second food item different from thefirst food item. The second zone includes a second heating element thatis independent of the first heating element and that is configured totransfer thermal energy to the second food item. The third zone includesa third thermal container configured to receive a third food itemdifferent from the first food item and the second food item. The fluidcirculation system is configured to circulate a volume of cooled fluidinto a portion of the first thermal container and a portion of thesecond thermal container when the device is in a first operating mode.The fluid circulation system is configured to (1) circulate a volume ofheated fluid into a portion of the first thermal container and a portionof the second thermal container, and (2) convey a volume of heated fluidinto a portion of the third thermal container when the device is in asecond operating mode.

As used in this specification, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, the term “a member” is intended to mean a singlemember or a combination of members, “a material” is intended to mean oneor more materials, or a combination thereof.

As used herein the term “module” refers to any assembly and/or set ofoperatively-coupled electrical components that can include, for example,a memory, a processor, electrical traces, optical connectors, software(executing in hardware), and/or the like. For example, a module executedin the processor can be any combination of hardware-based module (e.g.,a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP)) and/orsoftware-based module (e.g., a module of computer code stored in memoryand/or executed at the processor) capable of performing one or morespecific functions associated with that module.

As used herein, the terms “feedback”, “feedback system”, and/or“feedback loop” relate to a system wherein past or presentcharacteristics influence current or future actions. For example, afluid circulation system is said to be a feedback system wherein thestate of the fluid circulation system (e.g., a measurable temperature ofa desired medium) is dependent on a current or past state being fed backto the fluid circulation system. In some instances, a feedback systemcan be an electromechanical system including a number of relays,switches, and/or the like that can open or close an electric circuitbased on a signal received from a sensor, a flow or a direction of aflow of electricity, and/or the like. In some instances, a feedbacksystem can be controlled and/or implemented in a programmable logiccontroller (PLC) that can use control logic to perform one or moreactions based on an input from a system component, a state of anelectric circuit, and/or a flow of electric power. In some instances, aPLC can include a control scheme such as, for example, aproportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. As such, an output ofsome feedback systems can be described mathematically by the sum of aproportional term, an integral term, and a derivative term. PIDcontrollers are often implemented in one or more electronic devices. Insuch controllers, the proportional term, the integral term, and/or thederivative term can be actively “tuned” to alter characteristics of thefeedback system.

Electronic devices often implement feedback systems to actively controlelectromechanical and/or fluidic systems in order to achieve and/ormaintain a desired system state. For example, a feedback system can beimplemented to control a fluidic system (e.g., a volume of water withina closed system) by opening or closing one or more valves, operating oneor more pumps, increasing or decreasing a temperature of the water,and/or the like. Expanding further, the feedback system can determinecurrent and/or past states (e.g., temperature, flow rate, volume, etc.)of at least a portion of the volume of water and return the past and/orcurrent state values to, for example, a PID control scheme. In someinstances, an electronic device (e.g., a controller) can implement anysuitable numerical method or any combination thereof (e.g., Newton'smethod, Gaussian elimination, Euler's method, LU decomposition, etc.).Thus, based on the past and/or current state of at least the portion ofthe volume of water, the fluidic system can be actively changed toachieve a desired system state.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a storage and cooking device 100according to an embodiment. The storage and cooking device 100 (alsoreferred to herein as “device”) can be any suitable cooking device,machine, and/or system. As described in further detail herein, forexample, the device 100 can be configured to receive one or more fooditems disposed in one or more sealed packages, receive or retrieveinformation associated with the one or more food items, store the one ormore food items at a first temperature (e.g., a storage temperature)prior to cooking, and cook the one or more food items in accordance withthe information associated with the food items. In some embodiments, atleast a portion of the device 100 can be substantially similar to or thesame as the storage and/or cooking devices described in U.S. PatentPublication No. 2017/0135383 entitled, “Apparatus and Methods for AtLeast Semi-Autonomous Meal Storage and Cooking Via Fluid Immersion,”filed May 18, 2017 (referred to herein as the “383 publication”), thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

As shown in FIG. 1, the device 100 includes at least one thermalcontainer 120, a fluid circulation system 140, a controller 170, and apower supply 173. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the device 100 caninclude a housing configured to house and/or at least partially enclosethe thermal container(s) 120, the fluid circulation system 140, thecontroller 170, and/or the power supply 173. Moreover, the housing caninclude a lid, door, or other access device configured to allow accessto at least a portion of the components disposed within the housing. Asdescribed in further detail herein, the device 100 (e.g., the housing)can also include one or more user interface portions such as, forexample, a display or touchscreen display configured to presentinformation associated with the device 100.

The thermal container(s) 120 can be any suitable shape, size, and/orconfiguration. In some embodiments, the device 100 can include a singlethermal container 120. In other embodiments, the device 100 can includemultiple thermal containers 120 (e.g., two, three, four, five, six,seven, eight, nine, ten, or more thermal containers 120). By way ofexample, in some embodiments, the device 100 can include three thermalcontainers 120 each of which is configured to receive a food item of adifferent type. Specifically, such a device can include a first thermalcontainer configured to receive, for example, a protein; a secondthermal container configured to receive, for example, a starch; and athird thermal container configured to receive, for example, a vegetable.In some embodiments, the device 100 can optionally include a fourththermal container 120 configured to receive, for example, a sauce,dressing, condiment, seasoning, and/or the like.

The thermal container(s) 120 can be formed of and/or can include anysuitable material(s) or combinations thereof. For example, in someembodiments, the thermal container(s) 120 can be formed of a materialhaving a relatively high thermal conductivity. In other words, thethermal container(s) 120 can be formed of and/or can include materialsconfigured to conduct and/or transfer thermal energy, for example, to orfrom a volume of water flowing through the fluid circulation system. Inother embodiments, the thermal containers 120 can be formed of amaterial having a relatively low thermal conductivity (e.g., aninsulating material). In other words, each thermal container 120 caninclude and/or can be at least partially surrounded by an insulatingmaterial. In some embodiments, the arrangement of the device 100 can besuch that thermal energy can be transferred between the thermalcontainer(s) 120 and a volume of fluid circulating through the fluidcirculation system 140, while thermal energy transfer between eachthermal container 120 and/or between the thermal container(s) 120 andportions of the device 100 other than the fluid circulation system 140is limited and/or reduced.

In embodiments including multiple thermal containers 120, thermallyinsulating each thermal container 120 can allow for independenttemperature control of each thermal container 120. For example, in somesuch embodiments, a thermal container can be in a relatively lowtemperature configuration (e.g., a storage or refrigerationconfiguration), while an adjacent thermal container can be in arelatively high temperature configuration (e.g., a cookingconfiguration). Thus, by insulating each thermal container and/or atleast a portion thereof, thermal energy associated with the thermalcontainer in the relatively high temperature configuration can besubstantially isolated from the thermal container in the relatively lowtemperature configuration. In other words, the device 100 can have, forexample, a multi-zone arrangement in which food items disposed inseparate thermal containers 120 can be stored and/or cookedindependently according to a set of instructions associated with eachfood item.

As described above, each thermal container 120 is configured to receiveone or more packages of food. For example, in some embodiments, a firstthermal container 120 can be configured to receive a first kind of food(e.g., meats and/or other proteins), a second thermal container can beconfigured to receive a second kind of food (e.g., vegetables), and athird thermal container can be configured to receive a third kind offood (e.g., starches, carbohydrates, and/or the like). In addition, insome embodiments, the device 100 can optionally include a fourth thermalcontainer configured to receive a fourth kind of food (e.g., a sauce,dressing, condiment, seasoning, and/or the like). In some instances, oneor more food items can be pre-packaged (e.g., within a fluid-tightpackage or cartridge), which in turn, is/are inserted into one of thethermal containers 120. Although not shown herein, the food cartridgescan be any suitable shape, size, and/or configuration. For example, insome embodiments, the food cartridges can be similar in at least formand/or function to the food cartridges described in U.S. PatentPublication No. 2017/0238750 entitled, “Modular Food Cartridges for Usein a Cooking Device,” filed Apr. 14, 2017 (referred to herein as the“750 publication”); and/or the food cartridges described inInternational Patent Application No. PCT/US2018/041819 entitled, “FoodCartridges and Carriers for Use in a Cooking Device,” filed Jul. 12,2018 (referred to herein as the “'819 application”), the disclosures ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

In some embodiments, the thermal container(s) 120 can be configured toreceive thermal energy from and/or transfer thermal energy to a volumeof fluid disposed in the thermal container(s) 120 or otherwise flowthrough or past the thermal container(s) 120. For example, in someembodiments, a volume of fluid can be transferred into one or more ofthe thermal containers 120 such that thermal energy can be transferredto and/or from the food items disposed therein. In other embodiments, avolume of fluid can flow through a fluid flow path (defined by the fluidcirculation system 140) that is outside of the thermal containers 120.In such embodiments, at least a portion of the volume of fluid can be incontact with an outer surface of the thermal containers 120 such thatthermal energy can be transferred therebetween. In some embodiments, thedevice 100 can include thermal containers 120 having any suitablecombination of configurations. For example, in some embodiments, thedevice 100 can include at least one thermal container 120 configured toreceive a volume of fluid and at least one thermal container 120 with anouter surface configured to be in contact with a flow of fluid flowingoutside of the thermal container 120.

In still other embodiments, a thermal container 120 can include a firstportion or volume configured to receive one or more food items and asecond portion or volume configured to receive a volume or a flow of avolume of fluid. In such embodiments, the first portion or volume andthe second portion or volume can be in fluid and thermal communication,or can be in thermal communication and fluidically isolated. In someembodiments, such a configuration can limit and/or substantially preventcontamination of the volume of fluid in the event of a leak, tear,rupture, and/or opening of a food package (e.g., a food packagecontaining a meat or protein).

The fluid circulation system 140 of the device 100 can be any suitableshape, size, and/or configuration. The fluid circulation system 140 isconfigured to regulate a temperature of a working fluid such as, forexample, water contained in or flowing through the device 100. Forexample, the fluid circulation system 140 can include any number offluid conduits, tubing, pipes, valves, solenoids, pumps, fluidreservoirs, and/or the like that can collectively define any suitablenumber of fluid flow paths within the device 100. Moreover, the fluidcirculation system 140 can include any number of heat exchangers and/orheat exchanger assemblies, heat sinks, heating elements, steamers, heatdiffusers, cooling elements, chillers, and/or the like. In someembodiments, the fluid circulation system 140 and/or a portion thereofcan be similar in form and/or function to those described in the '383publication. As such, the fluid circulation system 140 can receive asignal and/or electrical power from the controller 170 and/or powersupply 173, respectively, which is operative to controlling, changing,maintaining, and/or otherwise regulating a temperature of a volume offluid contained in the device 100.

By way of example, in some embodiments, the fluid circulation system 140can include a fluid reservoir configured to contain a volume of fluidsuch as, for example, water, which in turn, is in selective fluidcommunication with at least one of the thermal containers 120 (e.g.,either an inner volume of the thermal container(s) 120 or an outersurface of the thermal container(s) 120) via any suitable number and/orarrangement of fluid conduits, valves, pumps, solenoids, and/or thelike. Similarly, the fluid circulation system 140 can include anysuitable number and/or arrangement of fluid conduits, valves, pumps,solenoids, and/or the like configured to selectively transfer a volumeof fluid through one or more heat exchangers, coolers, and/or heatsources. In response to an input such as, for example, a user input(e.g., either a local input or an input via a network), an inputassociated with a predetermined schedule and/or event, and/or the like,the controller 170 can send a signal to the fluid circulation system 140to regulate a flow and/or temperature of the water within the device100. As such, the device 100 can be transferred between a firstoperating mode in which food items disposed in one or more thermalcontainers 120 are stored at or below a predetermined storagetemperature and a second operating mode in which food items disposed inthe one or more thermal containers 120 are cooked at or to apredetermined cooking temperature, as described in further detailherein.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the fluid circulationsystem 140 can form any suitable number of fluid flow paths and/orcirculation loops. For example, in some embodiments, the fluidcirculation system 140 can include and/or can form a single fluid flowpath and/or circulation loop in which fluid flows into, flows through,and/or flows around each of the thermal containers 120. In otherembodiments, the fluid circulation system 140 can include and/or canform multiple fluid flow paths and/or circulation loops. For example, insome embodiments, the fluid circulation system 140 can include a fluidflow path and/or a circulation loop for each thermal container 120included in the device 100. In such embodiments, the fluid flow pathsand/or circulation loops for each of the thermal containers 120 can beindependent fluid flow paths and/or circulation loops. In otherembodiments, the fluid flow paths and/or circulation loops can includeone or more similar and/or combined portions. In such embodiments, thefluid flow through the fluid flow paths and/or circulation loops can becontrolled by any suitable number of pumps, valves, solenoids,junctions, switches, etc.

In some embodiments, the use of multiple fluid flow paths can allow forindependent cooling and/or heating of each thermal container 120. Forexample, in some embodiments, it may be desirable to transfer a firstamount of thermal energy to a first food item disposed in a firstthermal container 120 and transfer a second amount of thermal energy(different from the first amount of thermal energy) to a second fooditem disposed in a second thermal container 120. Moreover, it may bedesirable to have a similar or substantially similar finish time forboth the first food item and the second food item. Thus, the multiplefluid flow paths enables the device 100 to cook the first food item andthe second food item according to instructions and/or data associatedwith each food item. In some instances, the controller 170 can controlthe fluid flow through the multiple fluid flow paths and/or circulationloops to ensure that cooking and/or substantial cooking of each of thefood items is completed at substantially the same time.

The controller 170 can be any suitable electronic and/orelectromechanical device configured to at least semi-autonomouslycontrol at least a portion of the device 100. For example, in someembodiments, the controller 170 can include any suitable electronicand/or electromechanical device configured to control at least a portionof the device 100. The controller 170 can perform any number ofprocesses and/or can execute any suitable instructions or codeassociated with controlling a portion of the device 100 (e.g., via afeedback control system, PLC, PID, etc.) to store and cook food itemsplaced in the device 100.

More specifically, the controller 170 can include, for example, at leastthe power source 173, a memory, a processor, and an input/output (I/O)interface. The memory can be, for example, a random access memory (RAM),a memory buffer, a hard drive, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), and/or the like. In someembodiments, the memory stores instructions to cause the processor toexecute modules, processes, and/or functions associated with controllingone or more portions of the device 100, as described above. Theprocessor of the controller 170 can be any suitable processing devicesuch as general-purpose processor (GPP), a central processing unit(CPU), an accelerated processing unit (APU), a field programmable gatearray (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/orthe like. The processor can be configured to run or execute a set ofinstructions or code stored in the memory associated with the operationof one or more portions of the device 100. The I/O interface can be, forexample, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface; an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface (FireWire); aThunderbolt™ interface; a Serial ATA (SATA) interface or external SerialATA (eSATA) interface; a network interface card (including one or moreEthernet ports and/or a wireless radios such as a wireless fidelity(WiFi®) radio, a Bluetooth® radio, a near field communication (NFC)radio, a ZigBee protocol radio, a Thread protocol radio, aradio-frequency identification (RFID) radio, and/or the like). The I/Ointerface is configured to send signals to and/or receive signals fromthe processor. Similarly, the I/O interface can be configured to receivesignals from and/or send signals (e.g., data, electric power, etc.) toany suitable electric and/or electronic device included in the devicesuch as, for example, one or more sensors (e.g., fluid level sensors,flow rate sensors, thermometers, thermistors, etc.), thermoelectriccoolers (e.g., Peltier coolers or the like), compressors, liquid heatexchangers, heaters, boilers, steam generators, pumps, optical scanners,barcode scanners, quick response (QR) code scanners, RFID transmitters,inter-integrated circuits (I2Cs), universal asynchronousreceive/transmit (UART) devices, serial peripheral interface (SPI)devices, and/or the like.

As described above, in some instances, the controller 170 can performand/or execute one or more processes associated with maintaining a foodcontained in the thermal container(s) 120 at a predetermined temperatureprior to cooking the food item(s) (e.g., refrigerating). In suchinstances, the controller 170 can send signals to and/or receive signalsfrom, for example, any number of pumps, valves, solenoids, heatexchangers or heat exchanger assemblies, sensors, etc. associated withmaintaining a volume of the fluid disposed in or flowing through thefluid circulation system 140 substantially at the predeterminedtemperature. For example, the controller 170 can send one or moresignals to the fluid circulation system 140 such that the fluid flowsthrough a chiller, chiller assembly, heat exchanger, cooler,refrigeration unit, etc. The cooled fluid can then flow into one or morethermal containers 120 and/or can flow around at least a portion of anouter surface of one or more thermal containers 120. In this manner, thefluid can maintain the volume defined by the thermal container 120substantially at a predetermined storage temperature, which in turn, canremove thermal energy from the food disposed therein to maintain thefood substantially at the predetermined temperature. In some instances,the predetermined temperature can be, for example, about 40° F. In otherwords, the controller 170 can be configured to perform one or moreprocesses associated with refrigerating the food within the thermalcontainer(s) 120 prior to cooking the food.

In some embodiments, the fluid circulating through the fluid circulationsystem 140 is water. In such embodiments, the use of water as a coolingfluid can be desirable because the water can also be used as a heatingfluid. Moreover, the water can be drained from the fluid circulationsystem 140 during one or more phases of a cooking operation. Forexample, in some embodiments, it may be desirable to drain the fluid(e.g., water) during a last phase or stage of cooking in which one ormore heating elements can be used to transfer a relatively high amountof thermal energy to the food items. In such embodiments, draining thefluid (e.g., water) can limit and/or can substantially prevent undesiredboiling of the fluid and/or a production of high-pressure steam and/orthe like. If the cooling fluid is a refrigerant (e.g., r134a or thelike), it would also be undesirable to expose the fluid (e.g.,refrigerant) to the relatively high amount of thermal energy released bythe heating elements. Thus, in some embodiments, it can be desirable touse water as the cooling and heating fluid configured to circulatethrough the fluid circulation system 140.

In some instances, the controller 170 can perform and/or execute one ormore processes associated with cooking food disposed in the thermalcontainer 120. In such instances, the controller 170 can be configuredto send signals to and/or receive signals from, for example, any numberof pumps, valves, solenoids, heat exchangers or heat exchangerassemblies, heating elements, sensors (e.g., fluid level sensors,temperature sensors, and/or the like), etc. associated with maintaininga volume of fluid within the thermal container(s) 120 substantially at apredetermined temperature. As described above with reference to thecooling configuration, the heated fluid can then flow into one or moreof the thermal containers 120 and/or can flow around at least a portionof the outer surface of one or more of the thermal containers 120. Inthis manner, the fluid can maintain the inner volume defined by thethermal containers 120 substantially at the predetermined cookingtemperature, which in turn, can transfer thermal energy to the fooddisposed therein to cook the food substantially at the predeterminedtemperature (e.g., any suitable cooking temperature such as, forexample, a temperature between 140° F. and 212° F.).

As described above, the fluid used to transfer thermal energy to thefood items and/or used to receive thermal energy from the food items canbe water. In some instances, the use of water as the heating fluid canbe desirable because a portion of the water flowing through one or morefluid flow paths can also be used to cook one or more food items via adifferent modality. For example, in some embodiments, the device 100 canbe in a cooking configuration such that heated fluid flows through thefluid circulation system 140 in a substantially closed loop. In suchembodiments, a portion of the fluid circulation system 140 and/or thefluid flow path can pass through and/or can pass around one or morethermal containers 120 to transfer thermal energy to an inner volume ofthe thermal container(s) 120. As such, the food item disposed in thethermal container(s) 120 can be cooked. In some embodiments, however, itmay be desirable to transfer a portion of the fluid into the innervolume of the thermal container(s) 120 and into contact with the fooditems (or a package containing the food items) disposed therein. Thus,while the fluid circulating through the fluid circulation system 140 canat least partially cook the food items by heating the inner volume ofthe thermal container(s) 120 (e.g., similar to baking), the fluidtransferred into the thermal container(s) 120 can be configured to atleast partially cook the food items via fluid immersion, sous-vide, BainMarie, boiling, and/or any other suitable cooking modality. In addition,in some instances, a portion of the fluid can be heated to a relativelyhigh temperature and injected or transferred into the thermal container120 in the form of steam (e.g., for steaming vegetables or any othersuitable cooking process).

In some embodiments, the device 100 can be configured to store and/orcook food items via different modalities. For example, in someembodiments, a first thermal container 120 containing a first food itemsuch as a meat or protein can be configured to cook the first food itemvia a first cooking modality. As used herein, the term modality canrefer to a method, manner, and/or process of performing an operationand/or can otherwise refer to one or more characteristics associatedwith the method, manner, and/or process of performing the operation.

The first cooking modality can include, for example, transferring avolume of fluid into (or circulating a volume of fluid through) a firstportion of the first thermal container 120 that is in thermalcommunication and fluidic isolation from second a portion of the firstthermal container 120 in which the first food item is disposed. In somesuch embodiments, the first food item (e.g., the meat or protein) can bedisposed in a cartridge or package that can include or contain a volumeof fluid. As such, the volume of fluid transferred into or circulatedthrough the first portion of the thermal container 120 can be heated toa predetermined and/or desired temperature. The thermal container 120can be configured to transfer thermal energy from the first portion ofthe thermal container 120 to the second portion of the thermal container120. At least a portion of the thermal energy transferred to the secondportion of the thermal container 120, in turn, is transferred to thefirst food item and/or the fluid within the cartridge or packagecontaining the first food item, thereby cooking the first food item to apredetermined and/or desired temperature and/or extent.

In some embodiments, a second thermal container 120 of the device 100that contains a second food item such as a starch or carbohydrate can beconfigured to cook the second food item via a second cooking modalitydifferent from the first cooking modality. In such embodiments, thedevice 100 can be configured to transfer a heated fluid into the secondthermal container 120 and/or a cartridge, package, and/or carriercontaining the second food item to cook the second food item via fluidimmersion, sous-vide, and/or Bain Marie. For example, in someembodiments, the second food item can be disposed in a cartridge and/orcarrier similar to those described in the '819 application. Moreover, insuch embodiments, the device 100, the second thermal container 120,and/or the cartridge or carrier containing the second food item caninclude a siphon arrangement as described in detail in the '819application.

In some embodiments, a third thermal container 120 of the device 100that contains a third food item such as a vegetable can be configured tocook the third food item via a third cooking modality different from thefirst cooking modality and/or the second cooking modality. For example,in some embodiments, the device 100 can be configured to transfer and/orcirculate a heated fluid around an outer surface of the third thermalcontainer 120, which in turn, can be configured to transfer at least aportion of the thermal energy of the heated fluid to the third fooditem. In some embodiments, the thermal energy transferred to the thirdfood item can be sufficient to cook the third food item to a desiredtemperature and/or desired extent. In some embodiments, the device 100can be configured to selectively inject a volume of fluid (e.g., inliquid form or in the form of steam) into the third thermal container120, which in turn, can increase a humidity within the third thermalcontainer 120. In some instances, the increased humidity can enhanceand/or facilitate the cooking of the third food item.

In some embodiments, the device 100 can optionally include a fourththermal container 120 that contains a fourth food item such as a sauce,dressing, etc. and that can be configured to cook the fourth food itemvia a fourth cooking modality different from the first, the second,and/or the third cooking modalities. For example, in some embodiments,the fourth food item disposed in the fourth thermal container canreceive thermal energy from, for example, a flow of ambient air withinthe device 100. In such embodiments, heated fluid flowing in and/oraround the first, second, and/or third thermal containers 120 cantransfer a portion of its thermal energy to an ambient environmentwithin the device, which in turn, can heat and/or transfer thermalenergy to the fourth food item. In other embodiments, the fourth thermalcontainer 120 can be configured to transfer thermal energy to or fromthe fourth food item via any suitable modality such as, for example, thefirst, the second, and/or the third cooking modalities.

As described above, the first food item, the second food item, and thethird food item can each be cooked via a different cooking modality. Insome embodiments, the multi-zone and/or multi-modality arrangement ofthe device 100 can, for example, increase safety of using the device100. For example, in some instances, transferring thermal energy betweenthe first food item (e.g., the meat and/or protein) and the volume offluid disposed in and/or circulating through a portion of the fluidcirculation system 140 while fluidically separating and/or isolating thefirst food item from the volume of fluid can limit and/or cansubstantially prevent contamination of the volume of fluid in the eventthat the package and/or cartridge containing the first food item isopened, torn, ruptured, and/or otherwise unsealed. As such, the device100 can use at least a portion of the volume of fluid to transferthermal energy between the second food item and at least a portion ofthe volume of fluid and/or the third food item and at least a portion ofthe volume of fluid. The multi-zone and/or multi-modality arrangement ofthe device 100 can also increase cleanability of the device 100 bylimiting potential modes of contaminating the volume of fluid and/or bydirectly draining at least a portion of the volume of fluid aftercooking one or more of the food items (e.g., after cooking the secondfood item as described in the '819 application).

In addition to being cooked via different modalities, in some instances,the first food item, the second food item, and/or the third food item(and/or optionally, the fourth food item) can each be cooked for apredetermined time and/or at or to a predetermined temperature. Thecooking time and/or the cooking temperature can be based on, forexample, instructions and/or information associated with each food item.In some instances, the cooking temperature and/or cooking time can bedifferent for each individual food item. In other instances, the cookingtemperature and/or cooking time associated with two or more food itemscan be the same or substantially the same. In other embodiments, two ofthe food items and/or all of the food items can be cooked via the samecooking modality and/or can be cooked for the same cooking time or atthe same cooking temperature. Moreover, in some embodiments, the device100 can be configured to cook one or more food items in multiple stages.For example, in some embodiments, the device 100 can be configured to atleast partially cook one or more food items via any of the modalitiesdescribed above during a first stage of a cooking process. In suchembodiments, at a predetermined time and/or according to a predeterminedor predefined profile associated with the one or more food items, thedevice 100 can be configured to at least partially cook the one or morefood items via a different modality during a second stage of the cookingprocess. For example, in some embodiments, the device 100 can includeone or more heating elements or the like that can be used during thesecond stage of the cooking process to heat, cook, bake, roast, broil,brown, toast, etc. the one or more food items. The one or more heatingelements can be disposed in any suitable position within the device 100.For example, in some embodiments, the device 100 can include a heatingelement above or below one or more thermal containers and can be spacedat a desired distance to allow for broiling, toasting, and/or any otherdesired mode of cooking.

As shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the controller 170 of thedevice 100 can include a I/O interface such as a network interface card(e.g., including at least one of an Ethernet port and a wireless radio)configured to place the controller 170 in communication with a network171. The network 171 can be any suitable network such as, for example, awide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a virtual localarea network (VLAN), the Internet, a cellular data network such as longterm evolution (LTE), etc. The network 171 can be implemented as a wiredor wireless network. In this manner, a user can remotely send signals tothe controller 170 via the network 171 and a remote electronic device172 such as a handheld controller, a mobile device, a smartphone, atablet, a laptop, a personal (PC), and/or the like. For example, theremote electronic device 172 can include at least a processor, a memory,and a display and can run, for example, a personal computer application,a mobile application, a web page, and/or the like. In this manner, auser can manipulate the remote electronic device 172 such that dataassociated with the device 100 is graphically represented on the displayof the remote electronic device 172 (e.g., via an application or “app”).Thus, the user can interact with the app to send signals to and/orreceive signals from the controller 170 of the device 100 via thenetwork 171. In such instances, the user can use the remote electronicdevice 172, for example, to establish a target time at which food shouldbe cooked and/or ready for consumption, to override a pre-programmedprocess, to turn on or off the device 100 (e.g., place in a “powered on”state or a “powered off” state, respectively), and/or to control anyother suitable function of the controller 170 and/or device 100.

As described above, the controller 170 and/or the device 100 can includeany suitable sensor, encoder, scanner, and/or the like configured tocollect data associated with the operation or lack of operation of aportion of the device 100 and can send the data to the controller 170.For example, in some embodiments, the device 100 can include a scannersuch a barcode scanner, a QR code scanner, a NFC device or radio, a RFIDdevice or radio, and/or the like configured to scan, detect, and/orotherwise receive data associated with the food disposed within thedevice 100. More specifically, in some embodiments, the food is disposedin one or more packages, each of which can include at least one barcode, QR code, and/or RFID tag configured to identify the food containedtherein. The device 100 can include a bar code, QR code scanner, and/orRFID transceiver configured to scan the code on the package and/orotherwise receive a signal from the package when the food is insertedinto the device 100, and based on data associated with the scanned codeor signal, can determine information associated with the food containedin the package. Such information or data can be stored, for example, inthe memory of the controller 170 and/or in a database operative coupledthereto. The information and/or data can include, for example, storingand/or cooking instructions, times, temperatures, expiration dates,and/or any other suitable information, as described in further detailherein.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the device 100 can beconfigured for use in and/or with one or more additional appliancesconfigured to store and/or cook food items (e.g., an oven, stove, range,refrigerator, etc.). By way of example, in some embodiments, the device100 can be an insertable or modular device configured to be insertedand/or “plugged” into an oven or the like. In such embodiments, portionsof the device 100 can be stored in and/or otherwise can be part of theoven. For example, at least a portion of the fluid circulation system140 and/or controller 170 can be included in and/or otherwise integratedinto the oven. As such, the device 100 can utilize, for example, theheating elements of the oven to heat a volume of fluid disposed in orflowing through the fluid circulation system 140. In addition, thedevice 100 can utilize the heating elements of the oven to heat and/orcook the food items via a different cooking modality (e.g., baking andbroiling). Moreover, in some embodiments, any suitable portion of acooling assembly (e.g., heat exchanger, refrigeration unit, compressor,chiller, etc.) can be contained in and/or otherwise integrated into theoven or the like.

In some such embodiments, the device 100 can include any suitableinterface, port(s), connector(s), etc. configured to connect or couple aportion of the device 100 to one or more portions of the oven. Forexample, in some embodiments, the device 100 can be inserted into theoven such that one or more ports of the device 100 are physically and/orfluidically coupled to one or more ports of the oven. In suchembodiments, the device 100 can include one or more thermal containers120 and one or more flow paths (as described above) while the oven orother appliance can include other portions of the device 100 (e.g., thecontroller 170, portions of the fluid circulation system 140, one ormore heating elements, one or more cooling assemblies, and/or the like).Thus, when the device 100 is inserted into the oven, the one or moreflow paths defined by the device 100 are placed in fluid communicationwith the portions of the fluid circulation system 140 disposed in orintegrated into the oven or the like. Thus, such a device 100 can beinserted into and/or “plugged” into the oven or the like to store orcooked food items contained therein in a manner substantially similar tothat described above.

Although the device 100 is described above as being inserted into or“plugged” into the oven, in other embodiments, the device 100 can beconfigured to be disposed outside of one or more appliance while stillutilizing portions of the one or more appliance. For example, in someembodiments, the device 100 can be configured to for use with an oven orthe like and a refrigerator or the like. In such embodiments, the device100 can include one or more ports, connectors, couplers, etc. configuredto establish selective fluid communication between one or more flowpaths of the device 100 and one or more portions of the oven and/orrefrigerator. For example, the device 100 can be configured to utilizethe heating elements of the oven to heat a volume of fluid and can beconfigured to utilize the cooling and/or refrigeration elements of therefrigerator. Accordingly, the device 100 can be included in and/or canotherwise form a portion of a larger food storage and/or food cookingsystem or the like.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking device200 according to an embodiment. The storage and/or cooking device 200(also referred to herein as “device”) can be any suitable cookingdevice, machine, and/or system. As described in further detail herein,for example, the device 200 can be configured to receive one or morefood items disposed in one or more sealed packages, receive or retrieveinformation associated with the one or more food items, store the one ormore food items at a first temperature (e.g., a storage temperature)prior to cooking, and cook the one or more food items in accordance withthe information associated with the food items. In some embodiments, atleast a portion of the device 200 can be substantially similar to or thesame as the storage and/or cooking device 100 described above withreference to FIG. 1. Accordingly, portions of the device 200 are notdescribed in further detail herein.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the device 200 includes a housing 210, a setof thermal container 220, and a fluid circulation system 240. Althoughnot shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the device 200 can also include a controllerand a power supply, which can each be similar in at least form and/orfunction to the controller 170 and the power supply 173, respectively,described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown, the housing210 of the device 200 is configured to house and/or at least partiallyenclose the set of thermal containers 220, the fluid circulation system240, and/or any other suitable portion of the device 200. As shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, the housing 210 is substantially rectangular and can havea size suitable for placement on or in, for example, a kitchencountertop, a cabinet, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the housing210 can have a size suitable for placement in one or more otherappliances such as, for example, an oven, or the like. The housing 210includes a lid, door, and/or access member (referred to herein as “lid212”) is movably coupled to the housing 210 and that can be transitionedfrom a closed configuration to an open configuration to allow a user toaccess the components contained within the housing 210. In theembodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the device 200 has a “front-loading”configuration in which moving the lid 212 from the closed configuration(FIG. 3) to the open configuration (FIG. 4) allows access to an innerportion of the housing 210 via a front portion of the device 200. Inother embodiments, the housing 210 and/or the lid 212 can have anysuitable configuration. For example, in some embodiments, the device 200can include a housing having a separate lid for each thermal containerincluded in the device 200.

As described above, at least a portion of the set of thermal containers220, at least a portion of the fluid circulation system 240, and atleast a portion of the controller are configured to be disposed withinthe housing 210. The thermal containers 220 can be formed of and/or caninclude any suitable material(s) and/or combinations thereof. Forexample, in some embodiments, the thermal containers 220 can be formedof a metal such as aluminum, stainless steel, and/or the like. In suchembodiments, the constituent material of the thermal containers 220 canhave a relatively high thermal conductivity (e.g., between about 10Watts per meter-Kelvin (W/mk) and about 250 W/mk, as described above).In other embodiments, the thermal containers 220 are formed from amaterial having a relatively low thermal conductivity (e.g., betweenabout 0.1 W/mk and about 1.8 W/mk, as described above). As describedabove with reference to the thermal container(s) 120, the insulatingmaterial can thermally isolate each thermal container 220 such that atemperature associated with each thermal container 220 can beindependently controlled substantially without transferring thermalenergy to, for example, adjacent thermal containers 220, or otherportions of the device 200. In other words, the device 200 can have, forexample, a multi-zone arrangement in which food items disposed inseparate thermal containers 220 can be stored and/or cookedindependently accordingly to a set of instructions associated with eachfood item.

In this embodiment, the device 200 includes three thermal containers220. Each thermal container 220 is configured to receive one or morepackages of food. For example, in some embodiments, a first thermalcontainer 220 (e.g., an upper right thermal container as shown in FIGS.3 and 4) can be configured to receive a first kind of food (e.g., meatsand/or other proteins), a second thermal container (e.g., an upper leftthermal container as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) can be configured toreceive a second kind of food (e.g., vegetables), and a third thermalcontainer (e.g., a bottom thermal container as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4)can be configured to receive a third kind of food (e.g., starches,carbohydrates, and/or the like). In some instances, one or more fooditems can be pre-packaged (e.g., within a fluid-tight package orcartridge), which in turn, is/are inserted into one of the thermalcontainers 220. In other embodiments, food items need not bepre-packaged prior to being position in the thermal containers 220.Although not shown herein, the food cartridges can be any suitableshape, size, and/or configuration. For example, in some embodiments, thefood cartridges can be similar in at least form and/or function to thefood cartridges described in the '750 publication and/or the '819application.

In some embodiments, the thermal containers 220 can be configured toreceive thermal energy from and/or transfer thermal energy to a volumeof fluid disposed in the thermal containers 220 or otherwise flowthrough or past the thermal containers 220. For example, in someembodiments, a volume of fluid can be transferred into one or more ofthe thermal containers 220 such that thermal energy can be transferredbetween the food items disposed therein. In other embodiments, a volumeof fluid can flow through a fluid flow path (defined by the fluidcirculation system 240) that is outside of the thermal containers 220.In such embodiments, at least a portion of the volume of fluid can be incontact with an outer surface of the thermal containers 220 such thatthermal energy can be transferred therebetween. In some embodiments, thedevice 200 can include thermal containers 220 having any suitablecombination of configurations. For example, in some embodiments, thedevice 200 can include at least one thermal container 220 configured toreceive a volume of fluid and at least one thermal container 220 with anouter surface configured to be in contact with a flow of fluid flowingoutside of the thermal container 220. In still other embodiments, athermal container 220 can include a first portion or volume configuredto receive one or more food items and a second portion or volumeconfigured to receive a volume or a flow of a volume of fluid. As such,the thermal containers 220 can be substantially similar in at least formand/or function to the thermal containers 120 described above withreference to FIG. 1 and, thus, are not described in further detailherein.

The fluid circulation system 240 of the device 200 can be any suitableshape, size, and/or configuration. The fluid circulation system 240 isconfigured to regulate a temperature of a working fluid such as, forexample, water at least temporarily disposed in a fluid reservoir 241.For example, the fluid circulation system 240 can include any number offluid conduits, tubing, pipes, valves, solenoids, pumps, and/or the likeconfigured to place the fluid reservoir 241 in fluid communication withany suitable number of fluid flow paths within the device 200. Moreover,although not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the fluid circulation system 240can include any number of heat exchangers and/or heat exchangerassemblies, heat sinks, heating elements, steamers, heat diffusers,cooling elements, chillers, and/or the like. In some embodiments, thefluid circulation system 240 and/or a portion thereof can be similar inform and/or function to the fluid circulation system 140 described indetail above with reference to FIG. 1. Thus, the fluid circulationsystem 240 is not described in further detail herein.

As shown in FIG. 4, in some embodiments, the device 200 and/or one ormore of the thermal containers 220 can include a heating element and orthe like configured to transfer thermal energy to the food itemcontained therein. For example, in some embodiments, it may be desirableto change the appearance of the food items by roasting, baking,broiling, browning, toasting, and/or otherwise cooking the food itemsvia a heating element rather than via a heated fluid. In some suchembodiments, a cooking procedure can be split, for example, into twooperations. In the first operation, the food items can be cooked via themethods described above. In the second operation, the food items can becooked via the heating elements and/or the like. In some instances, auser can remove a food item after the first operation and canreconfigure the packaging and/or remove the food item from the packagingprior to initiating the second operation. In other instances, such atransition and/or reconfiguration can be performed automatically by thedevice 200. In some instances, the first operation can be performed atrelatively low temperatures, which can, for example, allow a user toleave the device 200 unattended during the first operation. In someinstances, the second operation can be performed at relatively hightemperatures such that a user may find it desirable to be present duringthe second operation. In other instances, the method of performing thefirst operation and the second operation can allow a user to leave thedevice 200 unattended during both the first operation and the secondoperation.

In some instances, the use of the heating elements can result in arelatively high temperature within at least a portion of the device 200(e.g., above 300° F., above 400° F., above 500° F., or more). In someinstances, heating to such temperatures can result in a failure ormelting of commonly used insulating material which may otherwise be usedto insulate the thermal containers 220 (e.g., insulating materialconfigured to facilitate the refrigeration or storage of the food itemsdisposed in the thermal containers 220). Accordingly, using the fluidfor both cooling and heating the food items can allow for cooking in arelatively wide range of temperatures and via multiple modalities, asdescribed above.

As described in detail above with reference to the device 100, thedevice 200 can perform and/or execute one or more processes associatedwith maintaining food contained in the thermal containers 220 at apredetermined temperature prior to cooking the food (e.g.,refrigerating). In such instances, the controller can send one or moresignals to the fluid circulation system 240 such that cooled fluid canflow into one or more thermal containers 220 and/or can flow around atleast a portion of an outer surface of one or more thermal containers220. In this manner, the fluid can maintain the inner volume defined bythe thermal containers 220 substantially at a predetermined storagetemperature, which in turn, can remove thermal energy from the fooddisposed therein to maintain the food substantially at the predeterminedtemperature. In some instances, the predetermined temperature can be,for example, about 40° F. In addition, the device 200 can perform and/orexecute one or more processes associated with cooking food disposed inthe thermal container 220. In such instances, the controller can sendsignals to the fluid circulation system 240 such that heated fluid canflow into one or more of the thermal containers 220 and/or can flowaround at least a portion of the outer surface of one or more of thethermal containers 220. In this manner, the fluid can maintain the innervolume defined by the thermal containers 220 substantially at thepredetermined cooking temperature, which in turn, can transfer thermalenergy to the food disposed therein to cook the food substantially atthe predetermined temperature (e.g., any suitable cooking temperaturesuch as, for example, a temperature between 140° F. and 212° F.).

Although not described in detail herein, the device 200 can beconfigured to store and/or cook the food items disposed in the thermalcontainers 220 via any suitable modality. Likewise, the device 200 canbe configured to store and/or cook the food items disposed in thethermal containers 220 at or to any suitable temperature and/or for anysuitable time. For example, in some embodiments, the device 200 canstore and/or cook food items disposed in the thermal containers 220 in amanner substantially similar to that described above with reference tothe device 100. Thus, the operation of the device 200 is not describedin further detail herein.

In some embodiments, any of the devices described herein can be used inconjunction with and/or can be disposed in any suitable appliance suchas a refrigerator or oven. In such embodiments, the device can utilizeany suitable aspect of the appliances as described above with referenceto the device 100. For example, as shown in FIGS. 5-7, in someembodiments, a device 300 can be substantially similar to the devices100 and/or 200 and can be configured for use within, for example, anoven. As shown in FIGS. 5-7, the device 300 can include a connector 301that can be configured to couple to a corresponding connector of theoven. In some embodiments, such a coupling can include coupling anysuitable number of fluid flow paths, any suitable number of mechanicaland/or electrical connections, and/or the like. Moreover, while thedevice 200 includes and/or is disposed in the housing 210, inembodiments configured to be inserted into the oven or other appliance(such as the device 300), the device 300 need not be disposed in anouter housing. In some embodiments, components 302 of the device 300(e.g., electrical and/or electronic components such as a controller orthe like) can be disposed in, for example, a drawer of the oven and/orthe like (FIG. 7). In still other embodiments, any of the devices 100,200, and/or 300 can be incorporated into an appliance (e.g.,permanently), thereby forming a combined appliance having any suitablenumber of functions.

FIGS. 8-11 illustrate a semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking device400 according to an embodiment. The storage and/or cooking device 400(also referred to herein as “device”) can be any suitable cookingdevice, machine, and/or system. As described in further detail herein,for example, the device 400 can be configured to receive one or morefood items disposed in one or more sealed packages, receive or retrieveinformation associated with the one or more food items, store the one ormore food items at a first temperature (e.g., a storage temperature)prior to cooking, and cook the one or more food items in accordance withthe information associated with the food items. In some embodiments, atleast a portion of the device 400 can be substantially similar to or thesame as the storage and/or cooking devices 100 and 200 described abovewith reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. Accordingly,portions of the device 400 are not described in further detail herein.

As shown in FIGS. 8-11, the device 400 includes a housing 410, a set ofthermal containers 420, and a fluid circulation system 440. Although notshown in FIGS. 8-11, the device 400 can also include a controller and apower supply, which can each be similar in at least form and/or functionto the controller 170 and the power supply 173, respectively, describedabove with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown, the housing 410 of thedevice 400 is configured to house and/or at least partially enclose theset of thermal containers 420, the fluid circulation system 440, and/orany other suitable portion of the device 400. Moreover, the device 400and/or the housing 410 of the device 400 can be configured to receiveand/or at least temporarily house one or more food packages 435selectively positioned within the device 400 and/or within the housing410 of the device 400.

The housing 410 can be any suitable shape and can have a size suitablefor placement on or in, for example, a kitchen countertop, a cabinet,and/or the like. The housing 410 includes a lid, door, and/or accessmember (referred to herein as “lid 412”) that is movably coupled to thehousing 410 and that can be transitioned from a closed configuration toan open configuration to allow a user to access the components containedwithin the housing 410. As described above with reference to the housing210, the device 400 has a “front-loading” configuration in which movingthe lid 412 from the closed configuration (FIG. 8) to the openconfiguration (FIG. 9) allows access to an inner portion of the housing410 via a front portion of the device 400.

As described above, at least a portion of the set of thermal containers420, at least a portion of the fluid circulation system 440, and atleast a portion of the controller are configured to be disposed withinthe housing 410. The thermal containers 420 can be formed of and/or caninclude any suitable material(s) and/or combinations thereof, asdescribed above with reference to the thermal containers 120 and/or 220.As described above, the arrangement of the thermal containers 420 canallow for independent control of a temperature associated with eachthermal container 420 substantially without transferring thermal energyto, for example, adjacent thermal containers 420, or other portions ofthe device 400. In other words, the device 400 can have, for example, amulti-zone arrangement in which food items disposed in separate thermalcontainers 420 can be stored and/or cooked independently accordingly toa set of instructions associated with each food item.

In this embodiment, the device 400 includes two thermal containers 420(also referred to as a “circulation pan”). Each thermal container 420 orcirculation pan is configured to receive one or more food packages 435(e.g., food cartridges, food containers, food packs, food pans, and/orany other suitable element configured to contain and/or hold one or morefood items. For example, in some embodiments, a first circulation pan420 (e.g., an upper right circulation pan 420 as shown in FIGS. 10 and11) can be configured to receive a first food package 435 containing afirst kind of food (e.g., meats and/or other proteins) and a secondcirculation pan 420 (e.g., an upper left circulation pan 420 as shown inFIGS. 10 and 11) can be configured to receive a second food packagecontaining a second kind of food (e.g., vegetables). In some instances,one or more food items can be pre-packaged (e.g., within a fluid-tightpackage or cartridge), which in turn, is/are inserted into one of thecirculation pans 420 (see e.g., FIGS. 10 and 11). The food packagesand/or cartridges can be any suitable shape, size, and/or configuration.For example, in some embodiments, the food cartridges can be similar inat least form and/or function to the food cartridges described in the'750 publication and/or the '819 application. As shown in FIGS. 10 and11, the device 400 can also receive a third food package 435 (e.g., alower right food package 435 as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11) configured tocontain a third kind of food (e.g., starches, carbohydrates, and/or thelike) and a fourth food package 435 (e.g., a lower left food package 435as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11) configured to receive a fourth kind of food(e.g., sauces, dressings, etc.).

In some embodiments, the food packages 435 disposed within thecirculation pans 420 can be configured to receive thermal energy fromand/or transfer thermal energy to a volume of fluid disposed in the aportion of the food package 435 and/or the circulation pans 420 orotherwise flowing through, in, or past the circulation pans 420. Forexample, in some embodiments, a volume of fluid can be transferred intoat least a portion of one or more of the food packages 435 via one ormore inlets 445 such that thermal energy can be transferred to and/orfrom the food items disposed therein. In other embodiments, a volume offluid can be transferred into and/or can flow through a fluid flow path(defined by the fluid circulation system 440) that is outside of thefood packages 435. For example, a volume of fluid can be transferredfrom one or more inlets 450, into one or more of the circulation pans420, and out one or more outlets 455. In some embodiments, the fluid canflow from the one or more outlets 455 to one or more drain reservoirs442 or to any other portion of the fluid circulation system 440 (e.g.,flow back to a fluid reservoir 441, flow to a different circulation pan,a different food package 435, and/or the like). In some embodiments, atleast a portion of the volume of fluid disposed in the circulationpan(s) 420 can be in contact with an outer surface of the foodpackage(s) 435 disposed therein such that thermal energy can betransferred therebetween. In some embodiments, one or more circulationpans 420 and/or one or more of the food packages 435 can include asiphon arrangement 430 (e.g., the lower right food package 435 shown inFIGS. 10 and 11). The siphon arrangement 430 can be similar to orsubstantially the same as the siphon arrangement described in detail inthe '819 application.

In some embodiments, the device 400 can include circulation pans 420having any suitable combination of configurations. For example, in someembodiments, the device 400 can include at least one circulation pan 420configured to receive via an inlet 450 a volume of fluid that isdisposed in a volume of the circulation pan(s) 420 in which the foodpackage(s) 435 is/are disposed. Moreover, the fluid circulation system440 can also be configured to transfer via a different inlet 445 aseparate volume of fluid into a volume defined by at least a portion ofthe food package 435 such that the fluid is in contact with the fooditem contained in the food package 435 and an outer surface of the foodpackage 435 (e.g., a “double boil” or “double cooking” configuration asdescribed in detail in the '819 application). As such, the food packages435 and/or the circulation pans 420 can be substantially similar in atleast form and/or function to the food cartridges or packages and/or thethermal containers 120 and/or 220 described above with reference to FIG.1 and/or FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. Thus, the food packages 435 andcirculation pans 420 are not described in further detail herein.

While one or more of the circulation pans 420 are described herein withreference to FIGS. 8-11 as defining a volume that receives a flow offluid such that the fluid is in contact with an outer surface of thefood package 435 disposed therein, in some embodiments, one or more ofthe circulation pans 420 can have any suitable configuration whileproviding a similar function or substantially the same function. Forexample, in some embodiments, the device 400 can include a series ofcoils or the like that are in contact with the outer surface of one ormore of the food packages 435 and through which the fluid circulationsystem can provide a flow of cooled or heated fluid (e.g., water).

The fluid circulation system 440 of the device 400 can be any suitableshape, size, and/or configuration. The fluid circulation system 440 isconfigured to regulate a temperature of a working fluid such as, forexample, water at least temporarily disposed in a fluid reservoir 441.For example, the fluid circulation system 440 can include any number offluid conduits, tubing, pipes, valves, solenoids, pumps, and/or the likeconfigured to place the fluid reservoir 441 in fluid communication withany suitable number of fluid flow paths within the device 400. The fluidcirculation system 440 can also include a drain reservoir 442 configuredto receive a volume of fluid (e.g., from one or more outlets 455 or oneor more fluid flow paths) that has been used to cool and/or heat one ormore food items. Moreover, the device 400 and/or the fluid circulationsystem 440 can include any number of heat exchangers and/or heatexchanger assemblies, heat sinks, heating elements, steamers, heatdiffusers, cooling elements, chillers, and/or the like. For example, asshown in FIG. 11, the device 400 and/or the fluid circulation system 440can include cooling members 475 (e.g., chambers, flow paths, volumes,elements, and/or the like) disposed about the circulation pans 420. Inother embodiments, the device 400 and/or the fluid circulation system440 can include any number of heating members and/or cooling members(e.g., one or more heating elements 460 or cooling members 475, as shownin FIG. 11) disposed in any suitable position and/or otherwise arrangedin any suitable configuration. In some embodiments, a series of coolingmembers 475 (e.g., chambers, flow paths, volumes, elements, etc.) can bearranged within the device 400 such as to circumscribe or substantiallycircumscribe an inner volume of the device 400 configured to receive thefood packages 435.

In some embodiments, the fluid circulation system 440 and/or a portionthereof can be similar in form and/or function to the fluid circulationsystem 140 and/or 240 described in detail above with reference to FIG. 1and/or FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. In some embodiments, the fluidcirculation system 440 can be similar in form and/or function to thefluid circulation systems described in detail in the '383 publication,the '750 publication, and/or the '819 application incorporated byreference above. Thus, the fluid circulation system 440 is not describedin further detail herein.

As shown in FIG. 11, in some embodiments, the device 400 and/or one ormore of the circulation pans 420 can include a heating element 460 andor the like configured to transfer thermal energy to the food itemcontained therein. For example, in some embodiments, the device 400 canreceive an instruction (e.g., from the controller or the like) to heatthe heating element 460 to a desired temperature to roast, bake, broil,brown, toast, and/or otherwise cooking the food items via the heatingelement 460 in addition to or instead of via a heated fluid. In somesuch embodiments, a cooking procedure can be split, for example, intotwo operations, as described above. Moreover, while the heating element460 is particularly shown in FIG. 11, in some embodiments, the device400 can include any suitable number of heating elements disposed in anydesired position within the device 400. For example, in someembodiments, the device 400 can include a heating element in a spaceand/or portion disposed above or below one or more circulation pans 420and/or food packages 435. As a specific example, the device 400 caninclude a heating element in a space 465 below the lower right foodpackage 435 (e.g., a food package containing a starch) shown in FIG. 11.

FIGS. 12-21 illustrate a semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking device500 according to an embodiment. The storage and/or cooking device 500(also referred to herein as “device”) can be any suitable cookingdevice, machine, and/or system. As described in further detail herein,for example, the device 500 can be configured to receive one or morefood items (e.g., food items disposed in one or more sealed packages,loose food items, and/or the like), receive or retrieve informationassociated with the one or more food items, store the one or more fooditems at a desired temperature (e.g., a first temperature such as a coldor cool storage temperature) prior to cooking, and cook and/or warm theone or more food items in accordance with the information associatedwith each food item.

The device 500 includes a housing 510, one or more thermal containers520 (also referred to herein as a circulation pan(s)), a fluidcirculation system 540, and a controller 570. In some embodiments, atleast a portion of the device 500 can be similar to or substantially thesame as the storage and/or cooking devices 100, 200, and/or 400described above. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the device500 can be similar to or substantially the same as the storage and/orcooking devices described in, for example, the '383 publicationincorporated by reference above. Accordingly, similar portions of thedevice 500 may not be described in further detail herein.

For example, in some embodiments, the controller 570 can be similar inat least form and/or function to the controller 170 described above withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As described above with reference to thecontroller 170, the controller 570 can include any suitable electronicand/or electromechanical device configured to at least semi-autonomouslycontrol at least a portion of the device 500. Specifically, thecontroller 570 can include at least a processor, a memory, and aninput/output (I/O) interface, each of which can be similar to and/orsubstantially the same as those described above with reference to thecontroller 170. Accordingly, the processor can be configured to run orexecute a set of instructions or code stored in the memory associatedwith the operation of one or more portions of the device 500, and theI/O interface can be configured to send signals to and/or receivesignals from the processor and/or any other suitable electric and/orelectronic device or component included in the device 500 (e.g., one ormore sensors, heat exchangers, heating elements, chillers, compressors,boilers, broilers, steam generators, pumps, valves, solenoids, scanners,etc.).

In some instances, when the device 500 is in a first operating mode, thecontroller 570 can perform and/or execute one or more processesassociated with maintaining one or more food items contained in thedevice 500 at or below a predetermined temperature (e.g., arefrigeration and/or storage mode). In response to an input (e.g., auser input, an automatic schedule, and/or the satisfaction of one ormore criterion), the device 500 can be transitioned to a secondoperating mode in which the controller 570 can perform and/or executeone or more processes associated with cooking the one or more food itemscontained in the device 500. In both the first operating mode and thesecond operating mode, the controller 570 can send signals to and/orreceive signals from any number of devices and/or components to transferthermal energy from the one or more food items (e.g., the cooling orfirst operating mode) and/or to transfer thermal energy to the one ormore food items (e.g., the cooking or second operating mode), asdescribed in further detail herein.

As another example, in some embodiments, the fluid circulation system540 and/or a portion thereof can be similar in form and/or function tothe fluid circulation system 140, 240, and/or 440 described in detailabove and/or can be similar in form and/or function to the fluidcirculation systems described in detail in the '383 publication, the'750 publication, and/or the '819 application incorporated by referenceabove.

As described above with reference to the fluid circulation systems 140,240, and/or 440, the fluid circulation system 540 is configured toregulate a temperature of a working fluid such as, for example, water atleast temporarily disposed in a fluid reservoir 541. The fluidcirculation system 540 can be any suitable shape, size, and/orconfiguration and can include any suitable component or combination ofcomponents. For example, the fluid circulation system 540 can includeany number of fluid conduits, tubing, pipes, valves, solenoids, pumps,and/or the like configured to place the fluid reservoir 541 in fluidcommunication with any suitable number of fluid flow paths within thedevice 500. Moreover, the device 500 and/or the fluid circulation system540 can include any number of heat exchangers and/or heat exchangerassemblies, heat sinks, heating elements, boilers, steamers, heatdiffusers, cooling elements, chillers, compressors, evaporators,condensers, and/or the like. The fluid circulation system 540 can alsoinclude a drain reservoir 542 configured to receive a volume of fluid(e.g., from one or more outlets or one or more fluid flow paths) thathas been used to cool and/or heat one or more food items, as describedin further detail herein.

As shown in FIGS. 12-16, the housing 510 of the device 500 is configuredto house and/or at least partially enclose the one or more thermalcontainers 520, the fluid circulation system 540, and/or any othersuitable portion of the device 500. Moreover, the device 500 and/or thehousing 510 of the device 500 can be configured to receive and/or atleast temporarily house one or more food containers selectivelypositioned within the device 500 and/or within the housing 510 of thedevice 500, as described in further detail herein.

The housing 510 can be any suitable shape and can have a size suitablefor placement on or in, for example, a kitchen countertop, a cabinet,and/or the like. As shown in FIGS. 12-14, the housing 510 includes alid, door, and/or access member (referred to herein as “lid 512”) thatis movably coupled to the housing 510 and that can be transitioned froma closed configuration to an open configuration to allow a user toaccess the components contained within the housing 510. Moreparticularly, the lid 512 can have and/or can be coupled to a handle513, which can be engaged by a user to transition the lid 512 betweenthe open and the closed configurations. As described above withreference to the housings 210 and 410, the device 500 has a“front-loading” configuration in which moving the lid 512 from theclosed configuration (FIGS. 12 and 13) to the open configuration (FIG.14) allows access to an inner portion of the housing 510 via a frontportion of the device 500.

The device 500 and/or the housing 510 includes and/or defines multiplezones, portions of which can be independently controlled to store and/orcook one or more food items based on information and/or instructionsassociated with the food item(s). As shown in FIG. 14, the device 500and/or the housing 510 includes and/or defines a first zone 515, asecond zone 516, a third zone 517 and a fourth zone 518. In someembodiments, each zone can be configured to receive a given and/orpredetermined type of food item. For example, in some embodiments, thefirst zone 515 can be configured to receive a first food type disposedin a first food container 535A (e.g., a protein such as a meat proteinor the like), the second zone 516 can be configured to receive a secondfood type disposed in a second food container 535B (e.g., a vegetable),the third zone 517 can be configured to receive a third food typedisposed in a third food container 536 (e.g., a starch such as pasta,rice, etc.), and the fourth zone 518 can be configured to receive afourth food type disposed in a fourth food container 537 (e.g., a sauce,condiment, seasoning, etc.), as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.

While the device 500 is shown and described as having the zones 515,516, 517, and/or 518 arranged in a particular manner and/orconfiguration, it should be understood that such a configuration ispresented by way of example only and not limitation. While the zones515, 516, 517, and 518 are described as being configured to receive afood container having and/or receiving a particular type of food item,in other embodiments, each of the zones 515, 516, 517, and/or 518 caninclude any suitable feature and/or component that can enable that zoneto store and/or cook any suitable food item and/or type(s) of fooditems.

Each zone 515, 516, 517, and/or 518 can include one or more elementsand/or features configured to store and/or cook the particular type offood item it receives via one or more modalities. For example, as shownin FIG. 16, the first zone 515 can include an inlet 545 configured toconvey a volume of heated fluid (e.g., water) into the food container535A, and a heating element 560A configured to transfer thermal energy(e.g., via conduction) to the food items disposed in the food container535A. The second zone 516 can similarly include a heating element 560Bconfigured to transfer thermal energy (e.g., via conduction) to the fooditems disposed in the food container 535B. The third zone 517 caninclude an inlet 546 configured to convey a volume of heated fluid(e.g., hot water at or near boiling) in the food container 536, and aheating element 561 (see e.g., FIG. 14) configured to transfer thermalenergy (e.g., via conduction) to the food items and/or fluid disposed inthe food container 536. In some embodiments, the fourth zone 518 doesnot include an element(s) and/or feature(s) to store and/or cook thefourth food item that is disposed in the fourth food container 537. Insuch embodiments, the device 500 can be configured to heat, warm, and/orotherwise transfer thermal energy to the fourth food item disposed inthe fourth zone 518 by virtue of an ambient temperature within at leasta portion of the housing 510. For example, in some instances, the fourthfood container 537 can be configured to receive a sauce or the like thatis intended to be warmed. Thus, ambient heat within the housing 510 canbe used as a source of thermal energy for warming, for example, thesauce disposed in the fourth food container 537. In other embodiments,the fourth zone 518 can include any suitable element and/or feature suchas those described herein.

As described above with reference to the devices 100, 200, and/or 400,the device 500 includes one or more thermal containers 520 configured toreceive one or more food containers. More particularly, in theembodiment shown in FIGS. 12-21, the device 500 includes one thermalcontainer 520 (also referred to herein as a circulation pan 520) havinga first portion 520A configured to receive the first food container 535Aand a second portion 520B configured to receive the second foodcontainer 535B. In some embodiments, the first portion 520A of thecirculation pan 520 and the first food container 535A can collectivelybe and/or can collectively form, for example, a first thermal containerconfigured to store and/or cook a first food item. Similarly, in someembodiments, the second portion 520B of the circulation pan 520 and thesecond food container 535B can collectively be and/or can collectivelyform, for example, a second thermal container configured to store and/orcook a second food item.

The circulation pan 520 can be formed of and/or can include any suitablematerial(s) and/or combinations thereof, as described above withreference to the thermal containers (or circulation pans) 120, 220,and/or 420. As described above, the arrangement of the circulation pan520 can allow for independent control of a temperature associated witheach portion 520A and 520B substantially without transferring thermalenergy therebetween. In other words, the device 500 can have, forexample, a multi-zone arrangement in which food items disposed in theseparate portions 520A and 520B can be stored and/or cookedindependently accordingly to a set of instructions associated with eachfood item.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the circulation pan 520 includes a firstmember 521 (e.g., a lower member) and a second member 522 (e.g., anupper member). In some embodiments, the first member 521 and the secondmember 522 can be coupled together and/or disposed adjacent to eachother such that a first portion 521A of the first member 521 and a firstportion 522A of the upper member 522 collectively define and/orcollectively form an opening, a container, a cavity, a pan, and/or thelike (referred to herein as cavity 523A). Similarly, a second portion521B of the first member 521 and a second portion 522B of the secondmember 522 collectively define and/or collectively form an opening, acontainer, a cavity, a pan, and/or the like (referred to herein as foodcavity 523B). As described in further detail herein, the food cavity523A is configured to receive the first food container 535A and the foodcavity 523B is configured to receive the second food container 535B (seee.g., FIG. 17).

As shown in FIG. 18, the first portion 521A of the first member 521defines a first circulation volume 526A and the first portion 522A ofthe second member defines a first circulation volume 527A. Thecirculation volumes 526A and 527A of the first portion 520A of thecirculation pan 520 surround the food cavity 523A and are configured toreceive a volume of fluid circulating through a portion of the fluidcirculation system 540. More particularly, the first portion 521A of thefirst member 521 includes an inlet 550A and an outlet 555A, each ofwhich can be coupled to any suitable plumbing or conduit of the fluidcirculation system 540. In turn, the plumbing and/or conduit can becoupled to any suitable solenoid, valve, pump, etc., thereby allowingthe fluid circulation system 540 to circulate a volume of fluid throughthe circulation volume 526A. Similarly, the first portion 522A of thesecond member 522 includes an inlet 525A and an outlet 526A, which canbe coupled to any suitable plumbing or conduit of the fluid circulationsystem 540, thereby allowing the fluid circulation system 540 tocirculate a volume of fluid through the circulation volume 527A.

As shown in FIG. 19, the first portion 522A of the second member 522 iscoupled to the inlet 545 and the heating element 560. Although notshown, the inlet 545 can be coupled to any suitable plumbing or conduitof the fluid circulation system 540. Moreover, the inlet 545 isconfigured to extend through the second member 522 to be at leastpartially disposed within the food cavity 523A (see e.g., FIGS. 16 and21). Accordingly, the inlet 545 can be configured to convey a volume offluid into the food container 535A disposed in the food cavity 523A. Theheating element 560A can be physically and/or electrically coupled tothe controller 570 (and/or a power supply thereof). Similar to the inlet545, the heating element 560A is configured to extend through the secondmember 522 to be at least partially disposed within the food cavity 523A(see e.g., FIGS. 16, 18, and 21). Accordingly, in response to a flow ofelectric power, the heating element 560A can be heated, which in turn,transfers thermal energy to the food items disposed in the foodcontainer 535A. In some embodiments, the heating element 560A can beconfigured to at least partially bake or broil the food items disposedin the food container 535A.

The second portion 520B of the circulation pan 520 can be substantiallysimilar to the first portion 520A of the circulation pan 520.Accordingly, the second portion 521B of the first member 521 defines asecond circulation volume 526B similar to but independent of the firstcirculation volume 526A and the second portion 522B of the second member522 defines a second circulation volume 527B similar to but independentof the second circulation volume 527A. The circulation volumes 526B and527B of the second portion 520B surround the food cavity 523B and areconfigured to receive a volume of fluid circulating through a portion ofthe fluid circulation system 540. As shown, the second portion 521B ofthe first member 521 includes an inlet 550B and an outlet 555B and thesecond portion 522B of the second member 522 includes an inlet 525B andan outlet 526B, which are operable in placing the circulation volume526B and 527B, respectively, in fluid communication with the fluidcirculation system, as described above with reference to the firstportion 520A. Moreover, a temperature sensor 524A (e.g., thermometer)can be disposed inside the food cavity 523A and a temperature sensor524B (e.g., thermometer) can be disposed inside the food cavity 523B,each of which is configured to sense, detect, and/or monitor atemperature within the food cavity 523A and 523B, respectively.

As described above with reference to the first portion 520A, the secondportion 522B of the second member 522 is coupled to and/or otherwiseincludes a heating element 560B at least partially disposed within thefood cavity 523B (see e.g., FIGS. 16, 18, and 21). Accordingly, inresponse to a flow of electric power, the heating element 560B can beheated, which in turn, transfers thermal energy to the food itemsdisposed in the food container 535B, as described above with referenceto the first portion 520A. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12-21, thesecond portion 522B of the second member 522 is not coupled to or doesnot otherwise include an inlet such as the inlet 545 described abovewith reference to the first portion 522A. For example, in someembodiments, the second zone 516 can be configured to store and/or cookthe food items disposed in the food container 535B via one or moremodalities that do not include conveying a volume of fluid into the foodcontainer 535B. In other embodiments, however, the second portion 522Bcan include and/or can be coupled to an inlet configured to convey avolume of fluid into the food container 535B disposed in the food cavity523B.

While the circulation pan 520 is described above as including the lowermember 521 with portions 521A and 521B, and the upper member 522 withportions 522A and 522B, in other embodiments, the device 500 can includemultiple circulation pans. For example, in such embodiments, the firstportion 520A and the second portion 520B of the circulation pan 520would be formed independently. In some such embodiments, the multiplecirculation pans could be coupled together or assembled independently inthe housing 510. As such, a device having multiple circulation panscould be functionally similar to or the same as the circulation pan 520.

As described above, the food cavities 523A and 523B are configured toreceive the food containers 535A and 535B, respectively. The foodcontainers 535A and/or 535B can be any suitable shape, size, and/orconfiguration. In some embodiments, the food containers 535A and 535Bcan be substantially similar while in other embodiments, the foodcontainer 535A can have a size, shape, and/or configuration that isdifferent from the food container 535B. Moreover, the arrangement of thefood containers 535A and/or 535B can be such that when the foodcontainers 535A and/or 535B are inserted into the food cavities 523Aand/or 523B, one or more surfaces of the food containers 535A and/or535B can be in contact with or can be in relatively close proximity toone or more surfaces of the circulation pan 520. In some embodiments,such an arrangement can facilitate the transfer of thermal energy to orfrom the one or more food items disposed in the food containers 535Aand/or 535B.

In some embodiments, the food containers 535A and/or 535B can bepre-packaged (e.g., within a fluid-tight package or cartridge), which inturn, is/are inserted into one of the food cavities 523A and/or 523B,respectively. For example, in some embodiments, the food containers 535Aand/or 535B can be similar in at least form and/or function to the foodcartridges described in the '750 publication and/or the '819application. In some embodiments, the food containers 535A and 535B canbe disposable pans, trays, packages, and/or the like. In some instances,such a food container can be sealed prior to use via a removable cover,lid, seal, cellophane, and/or any other suitable packaging, which can beremoved when the food container is placed into the device 500. In otherembodiments, the food containers 535A and 535B can be reusable pans,trays, and/or the like into which a user can place one or more fooditems. In other words, the food containers 535A and/or 535B can includepre-packaged foods or can receive one or more loose food items and/orfood items that are not otherwise pre-packaged.

In some embodiments, the food container 535A can be configured toreceive and/or contain a first type of food such as, for example, aprotein and the food container 535B can be configured to receive and/orcontain a second type of food such as, for example, a vegetable. In someinstances, the food items in the food containers 535A and/or 535B can bepackaged according to one or more cooking modalities used to cook thattype of food. For example, in some embodiments, the food item containedin the food container 535A (e.g., a protein) can be disposed in a sealedpouch and positioned into the food container 535A and the device 500 canbe configured to at least partially cook the food item via fluidimmersion cooking (e.g., sous-vide). In other embodiments, the food itemneed not be contained in a sealed pouch and the device 500 can beconfigured to at least partially cook the food item via one or moreother modalities. In some embodiments, the food item disposed in thefood container 535B (e.g., a vegetable) can be loose (e.g., not disposedin an additional packaging such as a pouch) and the device 500 can beconfigured to cook the food item (e.g., the vegetable) via steaming,roasting, broiling, and/or the like. Moreover, the food items placed inor contained in the food containers 535A and/or 535B can be pre-packagedvia a meal preparation and/or delivery service of can be user supplied(e.g., the user places food items bought from a grocery store into thefood containers 535A and/or 535B).

As described above, the third zone 517 includes the inlet 546 and theheating element 561 (see e.g., FIG. 14) and is configured to receive thethird food container 536 (see e.g., FIGS. 15, 16, 20, and 21). In someembodiments, the third food container 536 can be and/or can form, forexample, a third thermal container 520 configured to contain and/orreceive a third type of food (e.g., starches, carbohydrates, and/or thelike). In some instances, the food item(s) can be pre-packaged andprovided via a meal preparation and/or meal delivery service or can beprovided by a user. In some instances, the food item(s) can be removedfrom any packaging or the like and poured and/or positioned in the foodcontainer 536. That is to say, the food container 536 can be configuredto receive “loose” or unpackaged food items.

The food container 536 disposed in the third zone 517 can be anysuitable shape, size, and/or configuration. For example, in someembodiments, the food container 536 can be substantially similar to thefood container 535A and/or the food container 535B. In otherembodiments, the food container 536 can be similar to and/orsubstantially the same as, for example, the food containers described indetail in the '819 application. As shown in FIG. 26, the food container536 includes a container portion 536A configured to receive one or morefood items and a siphon portion 530 configured to selectively drain avolume of fluid from the container portion 536A. Although not shown, insome embodiments, the container portion 536A can include an interiorscreen, a mesh, and/or an at least semi-permeable member configured toallow a fluid to pass through the screen, mesh, and/or semi-permeablemember while retaining the food item within a volume defined by thescreen, mesh, and/or semi-permeable member.

In some embodiments, the third zone 517 can be configured to cook thefood item disposed in the food container 536 via boiling and/or viafluid immersion in a volume of hot or near boiling water. As describedabove, the third zone 517 includes an inlet 546 (see e.g., FIGS. 16 and21) that can be coupled to any suitable plumbing and/or conduit of thefluid circulation system 540, which in turn, can be coupled to anysuitable solenoid, valve, pump, etc. As such, the device 500 and/orfluid circulation system 540 can be configured to convey a volume of hotfluid (e.g., hot water at or near boiling) into the food container 536in which the third type of food (e.g., a starch such as pasta, rice,etc.) is disposed, thereby cooking the food item. In addition, the thirdzone 517 includes a heating element 561 configured to transfer thermalenergy to the food item and/or the fluid disposed in the food container536. In some embodiments, the heating element 561 can be, for example, apositive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater and/or any other suitableheater. In some embodiments, the food container 536 can be disposed inthe third zone 517 such that a surface of the food container 536 is incontact with and/or is in close proximity to the heating element 561. Assuch, in some instances, the fluid circulation system 540 can beconfigured to convey a volume of fluid into the food container 536 at afirst temperature (e.g., below a boiling temperature of the fluid) andthe heating element 561 can be configured to transfer additional thermalenergy to the volume of fluid to increase a temperature of the volume offluid (e.g., near, at, or above a boiling temperature of the fluid), asdescribed in further detail herein.

As shown in FIG. 20, the siphon 530 is coupled to and/or integrallyformed with the container portion 536A. In some embodiments, the siphon530 includes a siphon tube 532 and a cover 531 configured to coverand/or protect the siphon tube 532. The siphon tube 532 is in fluidcommunication with the container portion 536A via an outlet (not shown)disposed at or near a bottom portion of thereof. As described in detailin the '819 application, the siphon 530 can be configured to drain atleast a portion of fluid disposed in the container portion 536A inresponse to a volume of the fluid exceeding a predetermined and/orthreshold volume. For example, in some embodiments, a predeterminedand/or desired volume of fluid can be conveyed (e.g., via the inlet 546)into the container portion 536A. The predetermined volume of fluid canbe sufficient to submerge the food item disposed in the containerportion 536A but insufficient to initiate a siphoning (e.g., draining)of the predetermined volume. Thus, the predetermined volume of fluid canbe configured to cook the food item (e.g., a pasta or the like). Aftercooking the food item a desired amount, an additional volume of fluidcan be conveyed into the container portion 536A (e.g., via the inlet546), which increases the volume of fluid in the container portion 536Ato an extent that the volume therein exceeds a threshold volume of fluidsufficient to trigger and/or initiate the siphon 530. Accordingly, thesiphon 530 can be configured to drain fluid from the container portion536A into, for example, the drain reservoir 542 (see e.g., FIGS. 14 and21) in response to an increase in a volume of the fluid disposedtherein.

As described above, the fourth zone 518 of the device 500 and/or housing510 is configured to receive a fourth food container 537. The foodcontainer 537 can be any suitable shape, size, and/or configuration. Insome embodiments, the food container 537 can be similar to and/orsubstantially the same as any of the food containers 535A, 535B, and/or536 described herein. More particularly, in the embodiment shown inFIGS. 12-21, the food container 537 can be a pan, tray, bin, receptacle,and/or any other suitable container. In some embodiments, the foodcontainer 537 can be disposable while in other embodiments, the foodcontainer 537 can be washable and reusable. In some embodiments, thefood container 537 is configured to receive one or more packaged fooditems (e.g., food items in a separate or additional pouch, bag,container, cup, etc.). For example, as described above, the foodcontainer 537 can be configured to receive the fourth type of food suchas a sauce, dressing, seasoning, topping, condiment, and/or the like,which in turn, can be disposed in a disposable package such as a pouchor the like.

The device 500 can be configured to transfer thermal energy to or fromthe food item(s) disposed in the food container 537 via any suitablemodality. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12-21, thefourth zone 518 can be configured to transfer thermal energy between thefood item disposed in the food container 537 and the ambient environmentwithin at least a portion of the housing 510. More particularly, whenthe device 500 is in a first or storage operating mode, a cold or coolfluid can be circulated through a portion of the circulation pan 520,which in turn, can lower an ambient temperature within the housing 510.Thus, when the device 500 is in the first operating mode, the relativelycool ambient temperature can cool the food item disposed in the foodcontainer 537. Conversely, when the device is in a second or cookingoperating mode, a hot or heated fluid can be circulated through aportion of the circulation pan 520, which in turn, can increase anambient temperature within the housing 510. Thus, when the device 500 isin the second operating mode, the relatively warm ambient temperaturecan warm the food item disposed in the food container 537. While thefourth zone 518 is described as transferred thermal energy between thefood item disposed in the food container 537 and the ambient environmentwithin at least a portion of the housing 510, in other embodiments, thefourth zone 518 can include any of the components and/or featuresdescribed above with reference to the zones 515, 516, and/or 517.

Described below is one example of the device 500 in operation. In someembodiments, a user can provide information associated with one or morefood items to be stored and/or cooked in the device 500. In someinstances, for example, the one or more food items can be pre-packagedfood items provided by a meal preparation and/or delivery service. Insuch embodiments, the packages and/or food containers can include acommunication tag or device can be communicate with the controller 570when placed within a predetermined proximity to a scanner or reader ofthe controller 570. For example, in some embodiments, the packagesand/or food containers can include an RFID tag, a QR code, a bar code,an NFC tag or device, and/or the like (e.g., as described above and/oras described in the '383 publication, the '750 publication, and/or the'819 application incorporated by reference above). In other embodiments,the food item(s) need not be pre-packaged and/or otherwise disposed in apackage or container having a communication tag or device. In suchembodiments, the user can provide an input into the controller 570 to,for example, identify the food items. For example, the user canmanipulate a user interface of the controller 570 to select the fooditems from a list of food items. In other instances, the user canmanipulate a remote control device such as a mobile device, asmartphone, a tablet, a computer, a smart home digital assistant, and/orthe like using an application, program, web browser, and/or the like.

Once the controller 570 has identified the food items, the food itemscan be disposed in the food containers and/or the food containers can beinserted into the device 500. For example, as described above, one ormore proteins can be disposed in the food container 535A, which in turn,is inserted into the food cavity 523A (e.g., in the first zone 515); oneor more vegetables can be disposed in the food container 535B, which inturn, is inserted into the food cavity 523B (e.g., in the second zone516); one or more starches or carbohydrates (e.g., pasta) can bedisposed in the food container 536 and inserted into the third zone 517;and one or more sauces, dressings, toppings, etc. can be disposed in thefood container 537 and inserted into the fourth zone 518.

In some instances, a user can provide an input into to the controller570 (e.g., directly via a user interface of the controller 570 or via aremote device such as a mobile device, smartphone, tablet, computer,smart home digital assistant, etc.) that can initiate the device 500. Insome instances, the user can choose to have the device 500 cook the fooditems right away. In response to the user input, the controller 570 canplace the device 500 in the second operating mode (e.g., the cookingoperating mode) in which the device 500 cooks the food items accordingto instructions associated with the identified food items, as describedin further detail herein.

In other instances, the user can input a desired time at which he or shewould like to eat the food items. In such instances, the controller 570can determine a time at which one or more cooking operations should beperformed so that the food items are cooked and ready to eat at thedesired time. In some instances, prior to cooking the food items, thecontroller 570 can be configured to place the device 500 in the firstoperating mode (e.g., the storage operating mode) in which the device500 stores the food items for a desired period of time. For example, insome instances, the device 500 and/or the fluid circulation system 540can cool a volume of fluid (e.g., at least a portion of the fluid in thefluid reservoir 541) and can circulate the volume of cooled fluidthrough the fluid circulation system 540 and, for example, thecirculation volumes 526A and 527A in the first zone 515 and thecirculation volumes 526B and 527B in the second zone 516. Accordingly,thermal energy can transfer from the relatively warmer food itemsdisposed in the food container 535A to the relatively cooler volume offluid circulating through the circulation volumes 526A and 527A and fromthe relatively warmer food items disposed in the food container 535B tothe relatively cooler volume of fluid circulating through thecirculation volumes 526B and 527B. In some instances, the food itemsdisposed in the food containers 535A and/or 535B can be cooled to adesired refrigeration temperature such as, for example, about 40° F.

As described above, the cool fluid circulating through the circulationpan 520 (e.g., through the first zone 515 and the second zone 516) canreduce an ambient temperature within at least a portion of the housing510. The relatively cool ambient temperature within the housing 510 can,in turn, be operable in cooling the food items disposed in the foodcontainers 536 and/or 537. More particularly, in some embodiments, thefood item disposed in the third zone 517 can be, for example, a drypasta or other dry starch, which generally is not a refrigerated fooditem. Likewise, the food item disposed in the fourth zone 518 can be,for example, a sauce or the like that can be pre-packaged in a sealedpouch or container, thereby reducing and/or removing a need torefrigerate the food item. As such, the cooling of the food itemsdisposed in the third zone 517 and/or the fourth zone 518 via therelatively cool ambient environment within the housing 510 can besufficient for the give food types and/or items.

In some instances, the controller 570 can be configured to transitionthe device 500 from the first operating mode to the second operating.For example, in some instances, the controller 570 can transition thedevice 500 in response to one or more criterion being satisfied. Such acriterion can be, for example, a predetermined time at which to begincooking, a user provided input (directly or via a remote device such asa smart phone, tablet, computer, smart home digital assistant, and/orthe like), and/or any other suitable criterion. Accordingly, thecontroller 570 can execute one or more processes associated with placingthe device 500 in the second operating mode.

In some instances, the device 500 and/or the fluid circulation system540 can heat a volume of fluid (e.g., a portion of the cooled fluid or aseparate volume of fluid from the fluid reservoir 541) and can circulatethe volume of heated fluid through the fluid circulation system 540 and,for example, at least the circulation volumes 526A and 527A in the firstzone 515. Accordingly, thermal energy can transfer from the relativelycooler food items disposed in the food container 535A to the relativelywarmer volume of fluid circulating through the circulation volumes 526Aand 527A (see e.g., FIG. 21). In some instances, the device 500 and/orthe fluid circulation system 540 can also convey a volume of the heatedfluid to the inlet 545 (see e.g., FIG. 21), which in turn, conveys thevolume of heated fluid into the food container 535A disposed in thefirst zone 515 such that the food item (e.g., protein) is at leastpartially submerged or immersed in the volume of fluid in the foodcontainer 535A. As such, the volume of fluid disposed in the foodcontainer 535A can transfer thermal energy to the food item disposedtherein. In addition, the volume of fluid circulating through thecirculation volumes 526A and 527A can transfer thermal energy to thefood item and the volume of fluid disposed in the food container 535A.In some instances, the thermal energy transferred from the fluidcirculating through the circulation volumes 526A and 527A canconsistently maintain the volume of fluid in the food container 535A ata predetermined and/or desired temperature, which would otherwise besubject to loss due to heat transfer to the food item and/or the ambientenvironment. Accordingly, in this example, the device 500 can beconfigured to cook the food item disposed in the first zone 515 viafluid immersion or sous-vide.

The device 500 and/or the fluid circulation system 540 can also heat avolume of fluid (e.g., a portion of the heated fluid circulating throughthe first zone 515 or a separate volume of fluid from the fluidreservoir 541) and can circulate the volume of heated fluid through thefirst circulation system 540 and, for example, at least the circulationvolumes 526B and 527B in the second zone 516 (see e.g., FIG. 21).Accordingly, thermal energy can transfer from the relatively cooler fooditems disposed in the food container 535B to the relatively warmervolume of fluid circulating through the circulation volumes 526B and527B. As such, the second zone 516 can be configured to bake or roastthe food items disposed in the food container 535B. Although not shownherein, in some embodiments, the second zone 516 can include a steamoutlet or the like configured to convey a volume of steam into the foodcontainer 535B to steam the food items disposed therein. Such a steamoutlet can be fluidically coupled to the fluid circulation system 540and can receive a flow of steam from one or more portions of the fluidcirculation system 540 (e.g., a steam generator or the like).

The device 500 and/or the fluid circulation system 540 can also heat avolume of fluid (e.g., a portion of the heated fluid circulating throughthe first zone 515 and/or the second zone 516, or a separate volume offluid from the fluid reservoir 541) and can convey the volume of heatedfluid to, for example, the inlet 546 disposed in the third zone 517 (seee.g., FIG. 21). Accordingly, a desired volume of heated fluid can betransferred into the food container 536 that is sufficient tosubstantially submerge the food item(s) disposed therein withouttriggering and/or initiating the siphon 530. As described in detailabove, in some instances, the heated fluid can have a temperature at ornear boiling, thereby boiling the food item disposed in the foodcontainer 536. In other embodiments, the heated fluid can have atemperature below boiling and the heating element 561 can be configuredto transfer thermal energy to the volume of fluid in the food container536 to raise a temperature of the volume of fluid to a temperature near,at, or above a boiling temperature of the fluid (e.g., about 212° F. forwater). Accordingly, third zone 517 can be configured to boil orsubstantially boil the food items disposed in the food container 536.

In some instances, after the food items in the food container 536 havebeen cooked for a desired time and/or a desired amount, the device 500and/or the fluid circulation system 540 can be configured to convey anadditional volume of fluid into the food container 536. As describedabove, the increase in the volume of fluid can be sufficient to triggerand/or initiate the siphon 530 such that the volume of fluid is drained(via the siphon tube 532) from the food container 536 and into the drainreservoir 542 (see e.g., FIG. 21).

The device 500 is further configured to transfer thermal energy to thefood item disposed in the fourth zone 518. As described above, in someembodiments, the fourth zone 518 is configured to transfer thermalenergy between the food item(s) disposed therein and at least a portionof the ambient environment within the housing 510. Accordingly, as thedevice 500 transfers and/or circulates a volume of heated fluid to orthrough at least one of the first zone 515, the second zone 516, and/orthe third zone 517, at least a portion of the thermal energy associatedwith the circulating fluid is transferred to the ambient environment inthe housing 510, thereby raising an ambient temperature. As describedabove, in some instances, the relatively warm ambient temperature can,in turn, be operable in warming the food item(s) disposed in the foodcontainer 537 positioned in the fourth zone 518.

In some instances, the device 500 can circulate heated fluid through thefirst zone 515, the second zone 516, and/or the third zone 517 atsubstantially the same time. Moreover, in some embodiments, the fluidcirculating through the first zone 515, second zone 516, and/or thirdzone 517 can flow through one or more similar flow paths and/or can beat least partially shared between the zones 515, 516, and/or 517. Inother embodiments, the fluid circulation system 540 can independentlycontrol and/or circulate separate volumes of fluid flowing through eachof the zones 515, 516, and/or 517. In other words, the device 500 canconvey, circulate, and/or maintain a volume of fluid in the first zone515 at a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined timeaccording to the cooking instructions associated with the food itemdisposed in the first zone 515; the device 500 can convey, circulate,and/or maintain a separate volume of fluid in the second zone 516 at apredetermined temperature and for a predetermined time according to thecooking instructions associated with the food item disposed in thesecond zone 516; and the device 500 can convey, circulate, and/ormaintain a separate volume of fluid in the third zone 517 at apredetermined temperature and for a predetermined time according to thecooking instructions associated with the food item disposed in the thirdzone 517.

In some instances, the device 500 can be configured to transfer thermalenergy to and/or otherwise to at least partially cook the food itemsdisposed in the first zone 515 and the second zone 516 via the heatingelements 560A and 560B, respectively. For example, in some instances,after a desired amount of cooking of the food item dispose in the firstzone 515 via a first modality (e.g., sous-vide), the device 500 can beconfigured to drain the volume of fluid from the food container 535. Inother instances, the device 500 can be configured to provide anotification or the like to the user indicative of the device 500completing the desired amount of cooking via the first modality. Inresponse, the user can remove the food container 535A (e.g., the device500 can automatically pause one or more operations to allow the user toremove the food container 535A) and can drain the fluid from the foodcontainer 535A (e.g., by pouring the fluid into the drain reservoir 542and/or into a sink or basin external to the device 500. Once drained andreplaced in the food cavity 523A, the device 500 can be configured tosupply a flow of electric power to the heating element 560A operable toenergize or heat the heating element 560. In some instances, the device500 can be configured to heat the heating element 560A to a desiredtemperature and for a desired amount of time sufficient to finishcooking the food item disposed in the food container 535A. In someinstances, the use of the heating element 560A can result in a desirablecolor of the food item, one or more portions becoming crisp, and/or thelike.

In some instances, the device 500 can be configured to transfer thermalenergy to and/or otherwise to at least partially cook the food itemsdisposed in the second zone 516 in a substantially similar manner asdescribed above with reference to the first zone 515. In some instances,the cooking modality used to at least partially cook the food itemdisposed in the second zone 516 does not include submerging the fooditem in a volume of fluid (e.g., is not a sous-vide cooking modality).Accordingly, in some instances, the device 500 need not drain a volumeof fluid from the food container 535B and as such, the device 500 can beconfigured to supply a flow of electric power to the heating element560B to finish cooking the food item disposed in the food container 535B(as described above with reference to the first zone 515).

In some instances, the device 500 can be configured to cook at least thefood items disposed in the first zone 515 and the second zone 516 is anat least partially parallel process such that a desired amount ofcooking of the food items is completed at substantially the same time.In such instances, the device 500 can be configured to provide anotification or the like indicative of the device 500 completing thedesired amount of cooking. As described above, in response to thenotification, the device 500 or the user can drain the volume of fluidfrom the food container 535A and once drained (and replaced in the foodcavity 523A), the device 500 can supply a flow of electric power to theheating elements 560A and 560B, thereby transferring thermal energy tothe food items disposed in the first zone 515 and the second zone 516 atsubstantially the same time.

In some instances, the device 500 can be configured to cook the fooditems disposed in at least two or more of the first zone 515, the secondzone 516, the third zone 517, and/or the fourth zone 518 via the same ordifferent modalities based on the cooking instructions associated withthe food items. In some instances, the predetermined temperatures and/orthe predetermined times can be similar or different based on the cookinginstructions associated with the food items and can be performed atsubstantially the same time, at least partially in parallel, orperformed serially. Furthermore, in some instances, the device 500 canbe configured to finish cooking (or finish a step of cooking) the fooditems disposed in the first zone 515, second zone 516, third zone 517,and/or fourth zone 518 at substantially the same time. Accordingly, theuser can remove the food items from the device 500 and can eat thefreshly cooked food items while still warm.

In this manner, the controller 570 can control one or more portions ofthe device 500 to cook and/or heat one or more food items at or to adesired temperature and for a desired amount of time. Moreover, in someinstances, the controller 570 can be configured to maintain the one ormore food items at a predetermined warming temperature (e.g., atemperature below a cooking temperature) after cooking the food item(s)until the user removes the food item(s) from the device 500.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of, for example, thefluid circulation system 540. As described above and as shown in FIG.22, the fluid circulation system 540 includes a fluid reservoir 541, acooling element 548, a fluid heater 549, a flowmeter 551 (labeled “FLW”551 in FIG. 22), a temperature sensor 552 (labeled “NTC” 552 in FIG.22), a series or set of solenoids S1-S7, and a series or set of pumpsP1-P2. The cooling element 548 can be any suitable cooling element suchas those described herein. In some embodiments, for example, the coolingelement 548 can be and/or can include a plate heat exchanger (PHE) orthe like. The fluid heater 549 can be any suitable heating element suchas those described herein. For example, in some embodiments, the fluidheater 549 can be a flow through tube heater and/or or the like ratherthan a boiler (which can be a separate component or not included in thefluid circulation system 540). The flowmeter 551 can be any suitablefluid flow sensor configured to detect a flow of fluid. In someinstances, the flowmeter 551 can be configured to sense, for example, arate of fluid flow or lack thereof (e.g., when excessive air is in thesystem and/or a freezing condition in which frozen fluid prevents fluidflow. The temperature sensor 552 can be any suitable temperature sensor,thermometer, thermistor, and/or the like. For example, in someembodiments, the temperature sensor 552 can be a negative temperaturecoefficient (NTC) thermistor or the like. As shown in FIG. 22, the fluidcirculation system 540 can also include a plug 553 (labeled as “BackPlug” 553). The plug 553 can be a manual plug or the like that a userand/or technician can use for manually draining fluid from the fluidcirculation system 540.

The fluid reservoir 541 can be, for example, a removable tank configuredto receive a volume of fluid used during one or more storage and/orcooking processes such as those described in detail herein. As shown inFIG. 22, the fluid reservoir 541 can include an outlet and an inlet. Theoutlet is configured to supply a flow of fluid that is circulatedthrough the fluid circulation system 540. The inlet is configured toallow for a return flow of fluid into the fluid reservoir. In addition,including an inlet (or recirculation port or portion) can allow a volumeof air to be introduced into the fluid circulation system 540, which insome embodiments, can facilitate draining and/or any other suitableoperation of the fluid circulation system 540.

In some embodiments, the pump P1 can be configured to pump and/or directa flow of fluid in a normal or default circulation loop. As such, thepump P1 can be primed directly by the fluid reservoir 541 and can directa flow of fluid in a clockwise direction along the diagram. The pump P2can be used to pump and/or direct a flow of fluid from the first zone515 and/or the second zone 516 to the third zone 517 (e.g., to the inlet546 configured to convey fluid to the food container 536, as describedabove with reference to FIG. 21).

In some embodiments, the solenoid S1 can be configured to control and/ordirect a flow of fluid into at least one of the first zone 515 or thesecond zone 516. More specifically, the solenoid S1 can control a flowof fluid into the first circulation volume 526A and the secondcirculation volume 527A of the first zone 515 and/or into the firstcirculation volume 526B and the second circulation volume 527B of thesecond zone 516. In some embodiments, the default mode can be to route aflow of fluid to the circulation volumes 526B and 527B of the secondzone 516. In some instances, however, the solenoid S1 can be activatedto route a flow of fluid to the first zone 515 or to the first zone 515and the second zone 516.

In some embodiments, the solenoid S2 can be used to control and/ordirect a flow of fluid from either the first zone 515 and/or the secondzone 516 back to the fluid reservoir 541 or through one or more otherportions of the fluid circulation system 540. In some instances, the useof the solenoid S2 can limit and/or substantially prevent a mixing ofthe volume of fluid flowing through the first zone 515 and the volume ofthe fluid flow through the second zone 516 (e.g., as may happen throughthe use of a Y-connector or the like). As such, the first zone 515 andthe second zone 516 can be kept substantially thermally and fluidicallyisolated. In some embodiments, the default mode can be to route a flowof fluid received from the circulation volumes 526B and 527B of thesecond zone 516. In some instances, however, the solenoid S2 can beactivated to route a flow of fluid from the first zone 515 and/or thesecond zone 516.

In some embodiments, the solenoid S3 is configured to control and/ordirect a flow of fluid to and/or from the cooling element 548 and toand/or from the fluid heater 549. For example, when the solenoid S3 isin the default mode, the solenoid S3 can allow and/or can direct a flowof fluid through the normal circulation path in which fluid flows fromthe pump P1, through the cooling element 548, the fluid heater 549, orboth, into the circulation volumes of at least one of the first zone 515and/or the second zone 516 and back to the pump P1. In some instances,the solenoid S3 can be activated to control and/or direct fluid flowfrom the first zone 515 and/or the second zone 516 to the pump P2, whichconveys the fluid to the inlet 546 of the third zone 517. In otherinstances, the solenoid S3 can be activated in conjunction with thesolenoid S5 (described below) to block a volume of fluid in the fluidheater 549, which can allow for the generation of steam.

In some embodiments, the solenoid S4 is configured to control and/ordirect a flow of fluid to the inlet of the fluid reservoir 541 or backto the pump P1. In the default mode, the solenoid S4 can be configuredto direct a flow of to the inlet of the fluid reservoir 541. In someinstances, circulating the flow of fluid through the fluid reservoir 541can facilitate the purging of air from the fluid circulation system 540.When the solenoid S4 is activated, the solenoid S4 can direct the flowof fluid to the pump, which in some instances can result in a higherefficiency in heating and/or cooling than when the fluid is routedthrough the fluid reservoir 541.

In some embodiments, the solenoid S5 can be configured to control and/ordirect a flow of fluid to or from the fluid heater 549. For example, inthe default mode, the solenoid S4 allows fluid to flow from the pump P1to the fluid heater 549 (e.g., as part of the normal circulation). Asdescribed above, however, when the solenoid S5 is activated inconjunction with the solenoid S3, a volume of fluid can be block insidethe fluid heater 549, which allows for the generation of steam.Moreover, the solenoid S5 can be activated to direct the steam to asteam outlet 528. As described above, although not shown in FIGS. 12-21,in some embodiments, the second zone 516 can include the steam outlet528, which can be used to convey a volume of steam into the foodcontainer 535B (e.g., containing one or more vegetables).

In some embodiments, the solenoid S6 can be configured to work inconjunction with the solenoids S1 and/or S2 to control and/or direct afluid flow to and/or from at least one to the first zone 515 and/or thesecond zone 516. In some embodiments, the default mode can route a flowof fluid exiting the circulation volumes 526B and/or 527B of the secondzone 516 back to the solenoid S1, and thus into the circulation volumes526B and/or 527B. As described above, the solenoid S6 can be activatedin concert with the solenoids S1 and S2 to direct the flow of fluid toor from the first zone 515 and/or the second zone 516 which can, forexample, allow for independent heating or cooling of the first zone 515and/or the second zone 516.

In some embodiments, the solenoid S7 can be configured to control and/ordirect a flow of fluid to the fluid heater 549. In the default mode, thesolenoid S7 can work in concert with the solenoid S5 and S3 to direct aflow of fluid from the pump P and through the fluid heater 549 during,for example, normal circulation. In some instances, the solenoid S7 canbe activated to control and/or direct the flow of fluid from the pump P1such that the flow bypasses the fluid heater 549 (e.g., the fluid flowsfrom the solenoid S7 to the solenoid S3 without passing through thefluid heater 549.

In some instances, the diagram shown in FIG. 22 can describe an exampleof how to route fluid through a fluid circulation system to allow adevice to function in a manner similar to that described above withreference to the device 500. Accordingly, the fluid circulation system540 shown in the diagram of FIG. 22 can enable the device 500 describedabove with reference to FIGS. 12-21 to at least semi-autonomously storeand/or cook one or more food items.

Referring now to FIG. 23, a flowchart is shown illustrating a method 10of using an at least semi-autonomous storage and/or cooking deviceaccording to an embodiment. The storage and/or cooking device (alsoreferred to herein as “device”) can be substantially similar in formand/or function to any of those described herein. Moreover, the devicecan be substantially similar to and/or can include one or more portionsthat are substantially similar to the devices described in the '383publication, the '750 publication, and/or the '819 applicationincorporated by reference above. Accordingly, the device is notdescribed in further detail herein.

The method 10 includes disposing at least one of a first food item in afirst thermal container, a second food item in a second thermalcontainer, and a third food item in a third thermal container, at 11. Insome embodiments, the food items can be any suitable pre-packaged orloose food items. More particularly, in some instances, the first fooditem can be a meat or protein, the second food item can be one or morevegetables, and the third food item can be a starch or carbohydrate suchas, for example, pasta.

The thermal containers can be similar to any of those described herein.For example, in some embodiments, the thermal containers can be similarto those described above with reference to the device 500. In someembodiments, for example, a thermal container can be collectively formedby and/or can otherwise include a food container and a portion of acirculation pan or the like. In other embodiments, a thermal containercan be formed by and/or can otherwise include only a food container. Instill other embodiments, a thermal container can define a volumeconfigured to receive a food package or cartridge and a volume of fluid,such as those described in, for example, the '383 publication. In otherembodiments, the thermal containers can have any suitable shape size,and/or configuration.

A first volume of fluid circulating through a portion of the firstthermal container and a portion of the second thermal container iscooled such that thermal energy from at least the first food item andthe second food item is transferred to the cooled fluid, at 12. Forexample, in some embodiments, the device can be in a first operatingmode (e.g., a storage mode) in which the device keeps a temperature ofthe food items below a threshold temperature. In some embodiments, thedevice includes a fluid circulation system that can be configured tocirculate the first volume of fluid. Moreover, in some embodiments, athermal container can define one or more circulation volumes configuredto receive the circulating cooled fluid. In some embodiments, the fluidcan be in physical contact with an outer surface of a food container orthe like. In other embodiments, a wall or structure of a circulating panthat defines the circulation volumes can be in physical and/or at leastthermal contact with the food container and/or the food item(s). Asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 22, in some embodiments, acontroller of the device can be configured to control one or moresolenoids, pumps, cooling elements, fluid heaters and/or the like suchthat the cooled fluid is circulated through the fluid circulation systemthe portions of the first and second thermal containers.

In response to a first criterion being satisfied, the first volume offluid circulating through the portion of the first thermal container andthe portion of the second thermal container is heated such that thermalenergy from the heated fluid is transferred to the first food item andthe second food item, at 13. For example, in some embodiments, thecontroller of the device can be configured to execute one or moreprocesses and/or the like operable to transition the device from thefirst operating mode to a second operating mode (e.g., a cooking mode)in which the device cooks the food items at or to a desired temperatureand for a desired time. As described above, in some embodiments, thecriterion can be, for example, based on a scheduled cooking time and/ora scheduled time at which a user would like to eat the cooked fooditems. In other embodiments, the criterion can be, for example, an inputprovided by a user (e.g., a direct input via a user interface of thecontroller and/or an indirect input via a remote device such as a mobiledevice, smartphone, tablet, computer, smart home digital assistant,etc.).

As described in detail above, the device can be configured to circulatethe heated fluid through one or more portions of the device to cook thefood items disposed therein when the device is placed in the secondoperating mode. In some embodiments, the fluid circulation system and/orthe controller can be configured to transition and/or activate one ormore solenoids and/or pumps such that the heated fluid is routed,conveyed, and/or circulated into the portions of the thermal containers(e.g., one or more circulation volumes as described above with referenceto the device 500 shown in FIGS. 12-21 and the routing diagram shown inFIG. 22). As described above with reference to the devices 100, 200,400, and/or 500, the heated fluid circulating through the portions ofthe thermal containers can have a predetermined and/or desiredtemperature that is at least partially based on the food items disposedtherein. Accordingly, the device can be configured to cook the firstfood item and the second food item at or to a desired temperature andfor a desired time. Moreover, as described above with reference to thedevice 500, the device can be configured to cook the first food item andthe second food item via different modalities or via the same modalitiesbased at least in part on information associated with the first fooditem and the second food item.

In response to a second criterion being satisfied, a second volume offluid is conveyed into a portion of the third thermal container suchthat thermal energy from the second volume of fluid is transferred tothe third food item, at 14. For example, in some embodiments, the secondcriterion can be based on a predetermined cooking time for at least oneof the first food item, the second food item, and/or the third fooditem. In other instances, the second criterion can be associated with adesired time at which the third food item will be fully cooked. In stillother embodiments, the second criterion can be associated with a userinput, as described above with reference to the first criterion.

As described in detail above with reference to the device 500, thedevice can be configured to convey a volume of heated fluid into atleast a portion of the third thermal container (which in this examplecan be similar to the food container 536). In some embodiments, thevolume of fluid can be sufficient to substantially submerge the thirdfood item disposed therein but can be insufficient to trigger and/orinitiate a siphon included in and/or coupled to the third thermalcontainer (food container), as described above with reference to thefood container 536. In some embodiments, the heated fluid can have atemperature at or near a boiling temperature of the fluid (e.g., about212° F. for water). In other embodiments, the heated fluid can have atemperature below the boiling temperature of the fluid. In suchembodiments, the device can include a heating element (e.g., similar tothe heating element 561) configured to transfer thermal energy to thesecond volume of fluid disposed in the portion of the third thermalcontainer. In some instances, such a heating element can be configuredto heat the second volume of fluid to a temperature near, at, or abovethe boiling temperature of the fluid.

In some instances, once the third food item has been cooked a desiredamount, the device can be configured to convey an additional volume offluid into the third thermal container. In some instances, theadditional volume can be such that the total volume of fluid in thethird thermal container exceeds a threshold volume of fluid. In suchinstances, exceeding the threshold volume of fluid can initiate and/ortrigger a siphon of the third thermal container, as described in detailabove with reference to the food container 536. Accordingly, the devicecan be configured to cook the third food item a desired amount and thencan be configured to initiate and/or trigger the siphon of the thirdthermal container such that the volume of fluid is drained from theportion of the third thermal container.

As described above, in some instances, the device can be configured tocook the first food item, the second food item, and/or the third fooditem according to instructions associated with those food items. In someembodiments, the device can be configured such that the cooking of thefood items is finished at substantially the same time. Moreover, in someembodiments, the device can include one or more additional elements,components, and/or features configured to transfer thermal energy to atleast one of the first food item, the second food item, and/or the thirdfood item. For example, in some embodiments, the first thermal containerand the second thermal container can include and/or can be coupled toone or more heating elements that can be configured to transfer thermalenergy to the first and second food items, respectively, as described indetail above with reference to the heating element 560.

In some embodiments, a user can, for example, subscribe to a mealdelivery service in which the user selects the food items he or shewishes to eat (e.g., via a PC application, mobile application, webbrowser and the Internet, telephone service, etc.) and receives the fooditems via a delivery. In such embodiments, the food items and/or mealscan be pre-packaged prior to delivery. In this manner, the user canreceive the food items and can place them within the device 100 and/or200 without having to place the food items, for example, in freezestorage or the like. Such subscription services can be based on, forexample, a desired number of meals per week and/or any other suitablemeasure. In other instances, a user can purchase one or more meals “ondemand.” For example, a user can enter an order via the Internet and aweb browser, PC or mobile application, etc.

Some embodiments described herein relate to a computer storage productwith a non-transitory computer-readable medium (also can be referred toas a non-transitory processor-readable medium) having instructions orcomputer code thereon for performing various computer-implementedoperations. The computer-readable medium (or processor-readable medium)is non-transitory in the sense that it does not include transitorypropagating signals (e.g., propagating electromagnetic wave carryinginformation on a transmission medium such as space or a cable). Themedia and computer code (also referred to herein as code) may be thosedesigned and constructed for the specific purpose or purposes. Examplesof non-transitory computer-readable media include, but are not limitedto: magnetic storage media such as hard disks, optical storage mediasuch as Compact Disc/Digital Video Discs (CD/DVDs), Compact Disc-ReadOnly Memories (CD-ROMs), magneto-optical storage media such as opticaldisks, carrier wave signal processing modules, and hardware devices thatare specially configured to store and execute program code, such asApplication-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Programmable LogicDevices (PLDs), Read-Only Memory (ROM) and Random-Access Memory (RAM)devices. Other embodiments described herein relate to a computer programproduct, which can include, for example, the instructions and/orcomputer code discussed herein.

Examples of computer code include, but are not limited to, micro-code ormicro-instructions, machine instructions, such as produced by acompiler, code used to produce a web service, and files containinghigher-level instructions that are executed by a computer using aninterpreter. For example, embodiments may be implemented usingimperative programming languages (e.g., C, FORTRAN, etc.), functionalprogramming languages (Haskell, Erlang, etc.), logical programminglanguages (e.g., Prolog), object-oriented programming languages (e.g.,Java, C++, etc.), or other programming languages and/or otherdevelopment tools. Additional examples of computer code include, but arenot limited to, control signals, encrypted code, and compressed code.

While some of the electronics systems are described herein as receivingsignals from any suitable sensor and/or the like and based on aprocessor executing a set of instructions, a subsequent action isperformed by a portion of the device, in other instances, a signal fromthe sensor can be operable in causing a portion of the device to performthe subsequent action. For example, in some instances, the signal sentfrom a sensor can be operable in transitioning a switch, a fuse, abreaker, and/or any other suitable logic device from a first state, inwhich a portion of the device receives a flow of electric power, to asecond state, in which the portion of the device substantially does notreceive a flow of electric power or vice versa. For example, a sensorcan send a signal based on a temperature of a volume of fluid containedin a thermal container exceeding a predetermined threshold that can beoperable in opening or closing one more valves configured to control aflow fluid into and/or out of the thermal container to bring thetemperature of the volume of fluid within the predetermined threshold.Similarly, a fill sensor or the like can send a signal based on a filllevel of a volume of fluid contained in the thermal container exceedinga predetermined fill limit that can be operable in opening one or morevalves to establish fluid communication between a volume defined by thethermal container and a drain reservoir. As such, at least a portion ofthe fluid can be drained from the thermal container until the volume ofthe fluid is within the predetermined fill limit.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. Where schematics and/or embodiments described above indicatecertain components arranged in certain orientations, positions, and/orconfigurations, the arrangement of components may be modified. While theembodiments have been particularly shown and described, it will beunderstood that various changes in form and details may be made.Similarly, although various embodiments have been described as havingparticular features and/or combinations of components, other embodimentsare possible having a combination of any features and/or components fromany of embodiments as discussed above.

For example, while one or more of the circulation pans 420 are describedherein with reference to FIGS. 8-11 as defining a volume that receives aflow of fluid such that the fluid is in contact with an outer surface ofthe food package 435 disposed therein, in some embodiments, one or moreof the circulation pans 420 can have any suitable configuration whileproviding a similar function or substantially the same function. Forexample, in some embodiments, the device 400 can include a series ofcoils or the like that are in contact with the outer surface of one ormore of the food packages 435 and through which the fluid circulationsystem can provide a flow of cooled or heated fluid (e.g., water). Inother embodiments, the device 400 can include one or more circulationpans similar to the circulation pans 520 described with reference to thedevice 500. In such embodiments, for example, a volume of fluid can beused to cool or heat one or more surfaces of a circulation pan, which inturn, can be in contact with an outer surface of the food package orcontainer. In still other embodiments, the volume of fluid circulatinginto and/or through a circulation pan can cool and/or heat a cavity orthe like in which the food package and/or container is disposed.

Although some of the containers, packages, and/or cartridges containingthe food are not particularly shown and/or described herein, it shouldbe understood that such packages and/or cartridges can have any suitablearrangement and/or configuration. In some embodiments, for example, thepackages can contain meat and/or other protein products in a firstfluidically sealed portion and can contain vegetables, starches,carbohydrates, etc. in one or more sealed or unsealed portions. In someembodiments, the packages and/or cartridges can include an absorbentmaterial or the like configured to absorb excess fluid resulting fromthe cooking of the food. In some embodiments, the packages and/orcartridges can be substantially similar to any of those described in the'750 publication and/or the '819 application. In other embodiments, fooditems can be positioned within a device (e.g., the device 100, 200, 300,and/or 400) without being disposed in a package, cartridge, and/or thelike. For example, in some embodiments, one or more loose food items canbe positioned in a thermal container and/or circulation pan. In otherembodiments, one or more loose food items can be at least temporarilydisposed in or on a tray, a carrier, a pan, and/or any other suitableholding device configured for use within the devices 100, 200, 300,and/or 400. Thus, while specific examples of food packaging have beenpresented herein, it should be understood that such food packaging ispresented by way of example only and not limitation. The devices 100,200, 300, and/or 400 described herein can be configured to store and/orcook food items disposed in any suitable packaging or the like or can beconfigured to store and/or cook unpackaged or loose food items.

Where methods and/or schematics described above indicate certain eventsand/or flow patterns occurring in certain order, the ordering of certainevents and/or flow patterns may be modified. Additionally, certainevents may be performed concurrently in parallel processes whenpossible, as well as performed sequentially. For example, as describedabove with reference to the device 500, a device such as those describedherein can be configured to cook one or more food items in an at leastpartially parallel process such that the cooking of each food item isfinished at substantially the same time despite starting at differenttimes. It should be understood that the methods of operation and/or usedescribed herein are provided by way of example and not limitation.Moreover, it should be understood that while specific examples ofcooling and/or heating (cooking) food items are described herein, theoperation of the device (e.g., storing and/or cooking food items) is notintended to be limited thereto.

What is claimed:
 1. A method, comprising: inserting a food containerhaving a food item disposed therein into an inner volume of a thermalcontainer, the thermal container being disposed within a housing of acountertop storage and cooking device; conveying fluid into the foodcontainer via an inlet disposed in the inner volume of the thermalcontainer and after inserting the food container in the inner volume,the fluid being heated by the first heating element prior to beingconveyed to the food container; cooling a volume of liquid circulatingthrough a liquid jacket disposed in the housing and at least partiallysurrounding the inner volume of the thermal container such that thermalenergy from the food item is transferred to the cooled volume of liquid,the volume of liquid circulating through the liquid jacket fluidicallyisolated from the inner volume; transferring, in response to a firstcriterion being satisfied, thermal energy from a first heating elementto the volume of liquid circulating through the liquid jacket such thatthermal energy from the heated volume of liquid is transferred to thefood item, the first heating element disposed within the housing andoutside of the thermal container; and transferring thermal energy from asecond heating element different from the first heating element to thefood item in response to a second criterion being satisfied, the secondheating element disposed in the inner volume of the thermal container.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first criterion is associated withat least one of a predetermined schedule or a signal indicative of aninstruction to heat the volume of liquid via the first heating element,the second criterion is associated with a predetermined cook time of thefood item via the thermal energy from the heated volume of liquidcirculating through the liquid jacket.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereina rate of thermal energy transfer from the heated volume of liquidcirculating through the liquid jacket to the food item disposed in theinner volume of the thermal container is less than a rate of thermalenergy transfer from the second heating element to the food item.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the second heating element disposed in theinner volume of the thermal container is above the food item when thefood item is disposed therein.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: supplying, in response to the second criterion beingsatisfied, a flow of electric power operable to energize the secondheating element to transfer thermal energy to the food item disposed inthe inner volume, the thermal energy transferred to the food item fromthe second heating element being independent of the thermal energytransferred from the heated volume of liquid to the food item.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the thermal container includes a set ofwalls, a first surface of each wall from the set of walls collectivelydefine at least a portion of the inner volume of the thermal container,a second surface of each wall from the set of walls collectively defineat least a portion of the liquid jacket, the second surface of each wallfrom the set of walls is opposite the first surface of that wall fromthe set of walls.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second heatingelement is a broiler element configured to transfer thermal energy tothe food item via radiant heat transfer.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising: disposing the food item in the food container priorto the inserting of the food container into the inner volume of thethermal container; the conveying of the fluid to the food containerincludes conveying a liquid into the food container such that the fooditem is submerged in the liquid, at least a portion of the thermalenergy transferred from the heated volume of liquid in the liquid jacketis transferred to the liquid in the food container; and transferringthermal energy from the liquid in the food container to the food item.9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: draining the liquid fromthe food container prior to the transferring of thermal energy from thesecond heating element to the food item.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising: transferring the volume of liquid from a liquidreservoir disposed in the housing into a liquid circulation systemdisposed in the housing; and circulating the volume of liquid throughthe liquid jacket.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the fluid issteam.
 12. A method of using a countertop storage and cooking devicehaving a thermal container, a first heating element, and a secondheating element different from the first heating element, the thermalcontainer, the first heating element, and the second heating elementdisposed in a housing of the countertop storage and cooking device, themethod comprising: inserting a food container having a food itemdisposed therein into an inner volume of the thermal container, a waterjacket disposed in the housing and surrounding the inner volume, thewater jacket defining a guide that receives at least an edge portion ofthe food container inserted in the inner volume; conveying fluid intothe food container via an inlet disposed in the inner volume of thethermal container and after inserting the food container in the innervolume, the fluid being heated by the first heating element prior tobeing conveyed to the food container; cooling a volume of watercirculating through the water jacket such that thermal energy from thefood item is transferred to the cooled volume of water, the volume ofwater circulating through the water jacket fluidically isolated from theinner volume; heating, via the first heating element, the volume ofwater circulating through the water jacket such that thermal energy fromthe heated volume of water is transferred to the food item; andsupplying, in response to a criterion being satisfied, a flow ofelectric power operable to energize the second heating element totransfer thermal energy to the food item, the thermal energy from thesecond heating element being independent of the thermal energy from theheated volume of water.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the heatingvia the first heating element is in response to at least one of apredetermined schedule or a signal indicative of an instruction to heatthe volume of liquid via the first heating element.
 14. The method ofclaim 12, wherein a rate of thermal energy transfer from the heatedvolume of water circulating through the water jacket to the food item isless than a rate of thermal energy transfer from the second heatingelement to the food item.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein thethermal container includes a set of walls, a first surface of each wallfrom the set of walls collectively define at least a portion of theinner volume of the thermal container, a second surface of each wallfrom the set of walls collectively define at least a portion of thewater jacket, the second surface of each wall from the set of walls isopposite the first surface of that wall from the set of walls.
 16. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the second heating element is a broilerelement disposed in the inner volume of the thermal container andconfigured to transfer thermal energy to the food item via radiant heattransfer.
 17. The method of claim 12, further comprising: disposing thefood item in the food container prior to the inserting of the foodcontainer in the inner volume of the thermal container; the conveyingthe fluid into the food container includes conveying the fluid such thatthe food item is submerged in the fluid, at least a portion of thethermal energy transferred from the heated volume of water in the liquidjacket is transferred to the fluid in the food container; andtransferring thermal energy from the fluid in the food container to thefood item.
 18. The method of claim 12, further comprising: automaticallydraining the fluid from the food container prior to the supplying of theflow of electric power operable to energize the second heating element.19. The method of claim 12, further comprising: transferring the volumeof water from a reservoir disposed in the housing into a circulationsystem disposed in the housing; and circulating the volume of liquidthrough the water jacket.
 20. The method of claim 12, wherein the fluidis steam.
 21. A countertop storage and cooking device, the devicecomprising: a housing; a thermal container disposed in the housing, thethermal container defining an inner volume configured to receive a foodcontainer having a food item disposed therein; a liquid circulationsystem disposed within the housing and configured to circulate a volumeof liquid through a liquid jacket disposed in the housing and at leastpartially surrounding the thermal container, the volume of liquidfluidically isolated from the inner volume, the liquid circulationsystem including: an inlet extending through the liquid jacket such thatan end portion is disposed in the inner volume, the inlet configured toconvey fluid to the food container disposed in the inner volume, acooling element at least partially disposed in the housing andconfigured to cool the volume of liquid circulating through the liquidjacket when the device is in a first operating mode allowing thermalenergy to be transferred from the food item to the cooled volume ofliquid, and a first heating element disposed in the housing andconfigured to heat the volume of liquid circulating through the liquidjacket when the device is in a second operating mode allowing thermalenergy to be transferred from the heated volume of liquid to the fooditem; and a second heating element disposed in the thermal container andisolated from the liquid jacket, the second heating element configuredto transfer radiant energy to the food item disposed in the inner volumewhen the device is in a third operating mode.
 22. The device of claim21, wherein the liquid circulation system is operable in transferringthermal energy to the food item via a first energy transfer modality andthe second heating element is operable in transferring radiant energy tothe food item via a second energy transfer modality different from thefirst energy transfer modality.
 23. The device of claim 21, wherein thesecond heating element is a broiler element.
 24. The device of claim 21,wherein thermal energy is transferred from the inner volume of thethermal container to the cooled volume of liquid circulating through theliquid jacket when the device is in the first operating mode to cool thefood item when the food item is disposed in the inner volume.
 25. Thedevice of claim 21, wherein thermal energy is transferred from theheated volume of liquid circulating through the liquid jacket to theinner volume of the thermal container when the device is in the secondoperating mode to heat the food item when the food item is disposed inthe inner volume.
 26. The device of claim 25, wherein the device isconfigured to transition from the second operating mode to the thirdoperating mode after a predetermined amount of thermal energy istransferred from the heated volume of liquid to the food item when thefood item is disposed in the inner volume.
 27. The device of claim 25,wherein a rate of thermal energy transfer from the heated volume ofliquid to the food item when the food item is disposed in the innervolume and the device is in the second operating mode is less than arate of thermal energy transfer from the second heating element to thefood item when the food item is disposed in the inner volume and thedevice is in the third operating mode.
 28. The device of claim 21,wherein the thermal container includes a set of walls, a first surfaceof each wall from the set of walls collectively define at least aportion of the inner volume of the thermal container, a second surfaceof each wall from the set of walls collectively define at least aportion of the liquid jacket, the second surface of each wall from theset of walls is opposite the first surface of that wall from the set ofwalls, the first surface a portion of the set of walls forming a guideconfigured to receive at least an edge portion of the food containerinserted in the inner volume.
 29. The device of claim 21, wherein theliquid circulation system further includes a liquid reservoir disposedin the housing, the liquid circulation system configured to circulatethe volume of liquid from the liquid reservoir through the liquidjacket.
 30. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the fluid conveyed to thefood container is one of liquid water or steam.